V 78

V 9

Pepper Gomez (1927-2004)

Models with props 74

Bring on the shirtless men!

Bill Brinkley and Pepper Gomez

Athletic Model Guild on display

The grounds of the Athletic Model Guild campus are such a feature of AMG photography that I thought it would be interesting to look at early studio images to see when and how it was introduced. 

Since Bob Mizer did not immediately leave his studio to work outside, it is unsurprising that the first months of AMG production feature some identifiable interior features, like the flooring in Mizer’s office. Most of the early interiors are dressed to obscure their individuality, though: they could be anywhere.

The earliest exterior sessions were published in albums and catalogues D, F, and G. The first AMG settings I can confidently identify appear in Album ZQ (July 1950) and the ZP catalogue (initially published in June 1950; the photos of Bob Schwartz were likely published later). In any case, the images — of what is today sometimes called “Mount Mizer” — are not particularly notable, save as the earliest AMG exteriors.*

Indeed, the remaining album and catalogue photos of Leonard Chambers, Henry Lenz, and Ed Holovchik [Ed Fury] also utilize Mount Mizer. Up through late 1951, then, Bob Mizer published no images of the Athletic Model Guild campus as we would come to know it … other than the ubiquitous Mount Mizer itself, which could be undressed as bare concrete or dressed in seasonal costume.

*I should really add that there are a quantity of earlier album and catalogue images of exterior settings, perhaps at AMG, but they lack any sort identifiable features: one sun drenched stucco wall resembles another.

Pepper Gomez

Pepper Gomez

Gene Meyer and Pepper Gomez

Lighting Test: Pepper Gomez 5

Pepper Gomez at the beach 1

Lighting Test: Pepper Gomez 4

Lighting Test: Pepper Gomez 3

Lighting Test: Pepper Gomez 2

Lighting Test: Pepper Gomez 1

Pepper Gomez in the surf

Bill Brinkley and Pepper Gomez

First impressions

Forrester Millard and Gene Meyer posed for Bob Mizer for years, starting when they were very young and documenting their bodies’ development over a long period. I thought it might be interesting to pull together the first appearances of some early AMG notables — not the earliest image taken (as of Meyer, when he was in his early teens), but the first the studio published. 

Bob McCune

Bob Yerkes

Gene Eberle

Gene Meyer 

and Pepper Gomez

John Miller

More AMG IDs

Continuing my review of the early AMG albums and catalogues, following the list published in AMG Bulletin 54:

M, Variety

N, Variety

O, Ken Rashoff

P, Andy Kozak

Q, Variety

R, Forrester Millard

S, Howard Olsen

T, Variety

U, Andy Kozak and Larry Farrell

V, Gene Meyer and Pepper Gomez

W, John Murphy

X, Variety

Y, Arnold Klein and Mel Klein

Z, Ben Sorensen and Andy Kozak 

ZA, Duke Cannon

ZB, Forrester Millard and Andy Kozak

Continued here