STAN STANCZYK. Rare late 1940s Original Vintage Gelatin Silver Photograph by DOUGLAS JULEFF - also known as DOUG OF DETROIT - of model, one of the finest, STAN STANCZYK. Stanczyk was a Gold Medalist in the 1948 Olympics and the 1951 Pan American Games. This iconic classic Juleff Photograph is 8 x 10 inches and is an excellent example of Jufeff's masterful use of light and shadows that transformed mid-20th Century "Beefcake" photography into a respected fine art form.
Douglas Juleff was a highly regarded 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.
In the 1950s, fueled by Joe McCarthy’s anti-obscenity politics, images of the male nude were banned. It was a criminal offense to send nude male photographs through the mail. Douglas was one of many casualties suffered by artists under the mid-20th Century morality-code. Thus, most of Douglas’s remaining original gelatin silver prints are unsigned however, they are easily identified by the extraordinary print quality and level of silver nitrate in the photographic paper.
STANLEY STANCZYK was born on May 10, 1925, in the rural town of Armstrong, Wisconsin. His parents moved to Detroit, Michigan when he was a year old. In Detroit, Stanley joined the Boy's Club when he was nine were he was taught acrobatics, tumbling, wrestling, boxing, swimming and barbell training. He was allowed to start serious weight training in 1941.
Between 1946 and 1952 Stan won five consecutive world titles in three different weight classes, six consecutive national titles, as well as gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics and 1951 Pan American Games. In 1946-1949 he set seven ratified world records: four in the snatch, one in the clean and jerk and two in the total. Stanczyk finished second at the 1952 Summer Olympics and third at the 1953 and 1954 world championships. In 1991 he was inducted into the National Polish American Sports Hall of Fame.
This is a vintage black and white original gelatin silver print circa late 1940s. It is not a reproduction or 2nd edition printing. The 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 UNMATTED and UNFRAMED.
Photograph is also available Matted and Framed. Please see additional icon on the Douglas Juleff Photographs Page to order this option. Framing is a separate cart item but should be ordered at the same time as the photograph. The photograph will arrive fully framed and ready for hanging.