Bob Mizer (1922-1992) was the driving force behind the Athletic Model Guild (AMG), a photography studio founded in Los Angeles in 1944, and the magazine Physique Pictorial, which published AMG pictures. AMG produced images of nearly nude muscular men; their publication in Physique Pictorial was ostensibly for artists and "physical culture enthusiasts," but attained currency primarily with gay men. Before the birth of gay rights, Physique Pictorial and the AMG enabled the dissemination of homoerotic images; the magazine also contained idealized, sexualized drawings of macho men by such artists as George Quaintance, Spartacus, and Tom of Finland. The influence of Mizer's presentation of the male body as a beautiful sexual object can be seen in the photography of Robert Mapplethorpe, Bruce Weber, and Herb Ritts.

Further Reading:

The Complete Reprint of Physique Pictorial: 1951-1990. New York, Taschen, 1997.