Illicit Histories

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Life & CultureIllicit HistoriesThe Secret Male Nudes of 1930s and 40s Photographer George Platt LynesMiss Rosen tells the story of George Platt Lynes, whose secret photographs were saved from destruction by the Kinsey InstituteMiss Rosen

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Life & CultureIllicit HistoriesMel Roberts, the Queer Photographer Targeted by the LAPD for His ImagesMiss Rosen charts the rise and fall – and rise again – of the late photographer Mel Roberts, who captured young men on the beaches of CaliforniaMiss Rosen

Barrington_Figure-Studies-collage-980

Style & GroomingIllicit HistoriesJohn S. Barrington, the 1950s Artist Behind the UK’s First Male Pin-Up MagBarrington’s drawings and sculptures of the male body made him the godfather of physique photography, and saw him arrested for his ‘obscene’ workMiss Rosen

Bruce-of-LA_John-Knight_980

Life & CultureIllicit HistoriesBruce of Los Angeles, the Man Who Pioneered Beefcake PhotographyBruce Bellas, AKA Bruce of Los Angeles, is known as the grandfather of physique photography, influencing seminal image-makers like Robert Mapplethorpe and Herb Ritts. Continuing a new series, Miss Rosen looks at the man behind the photographsMiss Rosen

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Life & CultureIllicit HistoriesJames Bidgood, the Man Who Pioneered a Dreamy Vision of HomoeroticismIn the first of a new series, Miss Rosen speaks to 86-year-old artist James Bidgood, whose fantastical work is on show now at New York’s Museum of SexMiss Rosen