Physical Culture

The word “physique” is right there in physique photography, so today I’m backing up a bit to look at the physical culture movement that helped set this art form as we know it into motion. 

1. Eugen Sandow - Benjamin Falk - German bodybuilder/strongman, put on strongman shows, posed for photographers, painters, sculptors, considered the Grecian and Roman physical ideal 1890s-1920s

2. Bernarr Macfadden - 1905 - American, Father of Physical Culture, Discovered Charles Atlas, began creating bodybuilding "physique" contests in US 1903, published Physical Culture magazine 1899-1951

From Friedrich Ludwig Jahn (1778–1852) and the German Turnverein gymnastics movement to Freikörperkultur (FKK), or “free body culture,” a lot of these ideas were already floating around Germany before they exploded into American fitness, bodybuilding, and eventually beefcake photography.

3. Joseph Pilates - German physical trainer, gymnast, bodybuilder, martial artist, student of Rudolf Laban in Germany and trained famous dance pioneers including George Balanchine and Martha Graham 1920s-1960s, there are currently Pilates studios in every major city in the U.S.

4. Charles Atlas - Edwin Townsend - bodybuilder and model, inspired by Eugen Sandow, competed in Bernarr Macfadden's Physical Culture contests in early 1920s winning World's Most Handsome Man and World's Most Perfectly Developed Man, launched mail order "Dynamic Tension" exercise method in 1922, discovered Tony Sansone

To keep this simple, I see two big branches: fitness as health and wellness, and fitness as beauty, display, and desire. On the wellness side, you get figures like Frederick Alexander (1869–1955), Rudolf Laban (1879–1958), Joseph Pilates (1883–1967), Irmgard Bartenieff (1900–1981), and Moshe Feldenkrais (1904–1984) — all circling ideas of posture, balance, breath, movement, and body awareness. I’ve studied all of these methods in some way, so this branch feels personal to me too. It also connects directly to German Expressionist dance and American modern dance.

5. Siegmund "Sig" Klein - Earl Forbes - 1949 - German bodybuilder/strongman, magazine publisher and gym owner, worked with Eugen Sandow 1920s-1970s

6. Tony Sansone - Earl Forbes - 1930s - Italian-American bodybuilder, model, and dancer, trained with Bernarr Macfadden and Charles Atlas as a teenager, Atlas called him "The Most Beautiful Man in America," sold mail order photographs of himself, owned 3 gyms, Steve Reeves was among his members

The other branch is where things get meatier. Eugen Sandow (1867–1925) turns the male body into a public spectacle. Bernarr Macfadden (1868–1955) turns fitness into magazines, contests, and publishing. Charles Atlas (1892–1972) turns it into a mail-order transformation fantasy. Tony Sansone (1905–1987) turns the body into art, celebrity, and photographs for sale. Jack LaLanne (1914–2011), Steve Reeves (1926–2000), and Ed Fury (1928–2023) carry that same ideal into gyms, television, movies, and physique modeling.

7. Jack Lalanne (Francois Henri Lalanne)- Bob Mizer - 1940s - French-American bodybuilder and model, considered "Godfather of Fitness," had the Jack Lalanne Show 1951-1985, opened US first modern health club in Oakland, CA, at 21 years old that was eventually licensed to Bally Fitness, inspired Steve Reeves and Arnold Schwartznegger

And that’s where we start sliding right into the world of Mizer, Bellas, Kovert, and Lon of New York. The body goes from something to study, to something to build, to something to sell, to something to desire. Health, beauty, commerce, and erotic fantasy all start sharing the same locker room.

8. Steve Reeves inspiring a group of boys - 1950s - American, professional bodybuilder and actor, Mr America 1947, Mr World 1948, Mr Universe 1950.

9. Ed Fury (Rupert Edmund Holovchik) - Bruce Bellas - 1950s - American bodybuilder, actor, and model, worked with Bob Mizer and Bruce Bellas.

10. Alonzo Hanagan - Lon of New York Artistic Physique Photography ad - NYC - 1950s

Feedback?

There are rumors that Sandow may have been gay or bisexual, and some speculation about Lalanne and his relationship with Jack Thomas being romantic, but nothing definitive.  If you know anything about this history or any of these figures let me know in the comments.