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Vintage Pat Milo Male Physique Nude Portrait Original Photograph

About the Item

A rare collection of original black and white photographs purchased in 1996 that were printed in 1996. They were custom ordered and only maximum of 3 were made. The photographs are beautifully printed. Pat Milo was a “artistic” male nude/physique photographer. He was more about making a beautiful photograph, been shooting men mood for the sake of being nude. Truly one of our favorite photographers we have collected. Photo: 8 x 10 with white matt. 16 x 20 black frame. Model: Dan Touemshay / Series 269 Biographical Note: Pat Milo (James Patrick) was born in 1911 into a large, Irish Catholic family. At a young age, he was forced to leave school to help care for his family. On the side, Milo indulged his interest in young men by dabbling in amateur photography. When his father found some of his photographs, he was thrown out of the house and forced to venture out on his own. He eventually found work as a short-order cook where he met Lyle Frisby. In the early 1950s the two opened a photography studio. The studio quickly failed. Undeterred, Frisby contacted Bruce Bellas (Bruce of Los Angeles), a photographer whose work he admired and wanted to emulate, for advice. Bellas advised him to move to Los Angeles. Frisby moved to Los Angeles, with Milo following a year later. Together, they again opened a storefront studio, Lyle Studio on Naud Street, just blocks from Los Angeles’ Chinatown, circa 1953. Frisby handled the photography and Milo handled the daily business. The store fronted as a commercial photography venture, but Frisby’s primary business was photographing athletic male models for the physique magazines. His earliest known advertisement appears in Physique Pictorial in December 1953. Frisby and Milo sold nude photographs of physique models through mail order, as well as in person at the Naud Street storefront. It was here, circa 1956 or 1957, that Frisby was arrested for obscenity. While Frisby was incarcerated, Milo began taking extension classes at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to improve his photography skills. He met Hollywood photographer George Hurrell at UCLA and developed a similar photographic technique. Frisby experienced a rapid decline in his health during his year-long incarceration, and soon after his release he died. Milo opened a studio of his own on Vermont Street in Los Angeles, and he began photographing male models under the Milo brand. His photographs began appearing in physique magazines in 1959. He continued selling nude photographs using Lyle Frisby’s mailing list and new clients brought in through advertisements. Over the next decade, he shots dozens of models, garnering respect from many of the models for his atypical “hands-off” approach during their modeling sessions. Although Milo photographed many models, he is perhaps best-known for his photographs of competitive bodybuilder Larry Scott.
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 20 in (50.8 cm)Width: 16 in (40.64 cm)Depth: 0.5 in (1.27 cm)
  • Style:
    Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
  • Materials and Techniques:
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
    1990-1999
  • Date of Manufacture:
    1996
  • Condition:
    This original b&w photo was printed in 1996 in NYC from the original 1950s negative by the estate of Pat Milo.
  • Seller Location:
    Palm Springs, CA
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 6231041stDibs: LU1767234945782

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