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| At the Foundation before the doors open. |
While The Magazine store continues to be fully operational in this building, it is a delight to see the
Bob Mizer Foundation steadily moving into its new, permanent home near the corner of Larkin and Geary streets in San Francisco, California.
I happily accepted
Dennis Bell's recent offer that I help archive
Denny Denfield's collection of negatives, which the San Francisco-based photographer bequeathed to The Magazine, which, in turn, has given it to the Foundation.
Last weekend, I worked through a binder of Denfield's negatives and photographs, identifying models, then sorting by photo shoots.
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| Sorting photos of Harold Martin |
I was surprised to learn from Bell that Denfield and Mizer were not only friends in the 1940's, but accompanied one another on photo shoots. That became readily apparent, when I examined Denfield's photographs of Harold Martin shot in the desert: Mizer took photographs of the same model in that locale.
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| Sorting photos of Howard Martin on the beach. |
Most astonishing of all, however, was the discovery that, in the 1940's, Denfield was at the Athletic Model Guild, when Mizer took this photograph of Gene Eberle battling Don Silvas. I reviewed several behind-the-scenes photographs that Denfield took on set: they show the models posing on a raised platform lit by two kleig lights and a lamp shined through a glass bowl to create the light effect on the wall.
I've never seen another photographer's work shot at the Athletic Model Guild.
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| Bob Mizer's photo of Gene Eberle and Don Silvas. |
Over the coming weeks, I look forward to more discoveries as I archive Denfield's work, which greatly deserves to be preserved and made available to those interested in fine physique photography.
