Rare 1950s Iconic Original Vintage Gelatin Silver Photograph by DOUGLAS JULEFF - also known as DOUG OF DETROIT - of popular physique models VIC SEIPKE and JIM PARK. Jim Park was Mr. America in 1952.
Fireman Vic Seipke was one of Juleff's favorite models. He was Mr. Michigan in 1951, Mr. Mid-America in 1954, Junior Mr. America in 1955, Mr. America-Masters in 1974, and a finalist in Mr. America in 1952, '53, '55, '56 and 62. He was a regular and popular model in physique magazines throughout the 1950s.
Photograph is an outstanding example of Juleff's masterful use of light and shadows and the natural relaxed style of his models, techniques that transformed mid-20th Century "Beefcake" photography into a respected fine art form.
This is a vintage black and white original gelatin silver print circa early 1950s. It is not a reproduction or 2nd edition printing. Photograph is printed on double weight photographic paper with deep rich tones and a soft matte premium finish. The photograph is from a collection previously owned by the late Broadway and Hollywood costume designer Noel Taylor.
Photograph is 8 x 10 inches.
PHOTOGRAPH ONLY. Photograph is not mated and is unframed. Framing is available through selecting the framing app in this Douglas Juleff section.
Douglas Juleff was a highly respected photographer of the 1940s and 1950s who is now considered to be one of the finest printers and innovators of mid-20th Century male figurative photography. His photographs are renowned for their rich dark tones, superb lighting and aesthetically posed handsome, masculine models. Douglas was one of a few masters of the “beefcake” genre who brought the finest professional craftsmanship and artistic aesthetics to the field.
Douglas was born in Detroit in 1919 where he spent his entire life until his death in 1999. After serving in the armed forced he started his photographic career in 1945 specializing in images of competitive bodybuilders from the Great-Lakes region including Jim Parks (Mr. America 1952), Bob Delmonteque, Stan Stanczyk, Jack Designer and Vic Speak (Mr. Michigan 1951). His work was published regularly in popular physique magazines of the 1940s and 1950s such as Strength and Health, Body Beautiful and Adonis.
In the late 1950s, Douglas Juleff was involved in a famous censorship battle held in Detroit that destroyed his career and the lives of many of his models. The Detroit police, aided by Juleff’s father, ransacked his house and studio. They confiscated and burned almost all of the photographer’s negatives and prints and arrested Douglas who was imprisoned in 1958. Douglas never emotionally recovered and after his release never returned to his photographic career. The police destruction of his works so thorough that only about 100 of his remarkable photos remain today.