Gerry Low
- Here we have a New York portrait, fashion, glamour and figure photographer whose work was published in quite a few photography magazines and photo digests of the late 50s and early 60s, but so far, I have found little biographical information on him. Update (9/20/20): Gerry Low was born in Shanghai, China on March 2, 1919 and grew up in Vienna, Austria 
(his father had been a merchant based in Vienna). Gerry became a naturalized U.S. citizen on June 5, 1942 in St. Louis, Missouri and joined the army, serving both in the States and in Europe and remained as a civilian attached to the army after his discharge. It was a chance meeting with glamour photographer Peter Basch that led him to become interested in photography. After a one-month apprenticeship with Basch, Low attended a photography school and upon graduation, he became a highly successful photographer on his own. 

Low worked in a well-equipped midtown studio where he concentrated on creating what he called "fashion portraits". For many years, typical fashion photos had concentrated on showing the product being publicized, with little or no emphasis on the model under the fashion. Low's fashion pictures illustrated the idea that the face, figure and beauty of the model could be important elements in heightening the attractiveness of clothing. Therefore, one of the most important elements of a Low "personality in fashion" photo was, obviously, a very beautiful model. In essence, his fashion photographs were a mix of portrait, fashion and glamour.

In terms of being published, 1957 was a pretty big year for Gerry Low, as his photos appeared in several periodicals such as Classic Photography (Spring and Summer issues), Master Photography (Summer issue) and Salon Photography ("Metal Nudes" by Gerry Low). In the summer of 1958, Low had a portfolio of his nudes published in Figure Quarterly (Volume Twenty One). In 1959, his photographs accompanied articles in the photo digests Good Photography ("Beauty Portraits" by Gerry Low) and Salon Photography ("Hair" by Gerry Low), and in a 1960 edition of Good Photography, photos by Mr. Low illustrated an article entitled "Figure Photography from Famous Sculpture". In another 1960 edition of Good Photography (#461), he wrote an eight page article featuring some of his artistic nudes that were photographed against seamless paper backgrounds. The title of the article was "Black vs. White Backgrounds".

Master Photography (Summer 1957) with an article on Gerry Low's Fashion Portraits
Classic Photography (Summer 1957) with an article entitled "In a Low Key: A new portfolio of Gerry Low portraits"

In addition to the articles mentioned above, Gerry Low's nudes and glamour portraits were frequently featured in all of the Whitestone photo books (Good Photography, Candid Photography, Prize Winning Photography and Salon Photography) throughout the late 1950s and early 60s. Most of Low's photographs seemed to have been taken in his studio, but one of his rare outdoor glamour photos can be seen here.

Camera equipment used by Gerry Low included the medium format Hasselblad F equipped with a Zeiss-Sonnar lens. Low preferred Panatomic-X film for portrait work due to the fact that it had almost no grain when developed (for development, he used D-76 for twelve minutes).

Gerry Low also photographed models for a few men's magazines. In the first issue of Plush Living for Men (December 1958), Gerry photographed Juana Pierce and for the September 1963 issue of Cavalier magazine, he photographed West German model Elka for a nine page layout which included several color photos and a centerfold (where Elka was named "Miss September Weekend").

The December 1958 issue of Plush Living for Men which featured a pictorial of Juana Pierce by Gerry Low.

Gerry Low shot this cover image of model "Elka" in bed for the Sept. 1963 issue of Cavalier, plus a nine page layout of her inside the magazine (including centerfold).

In 1966, Gerry married Ingrid Lange, a German immigrée who he had met three years earlier. The two would eventually have a vacation home in the Caribbean (Montserrat in the West Indies). It was their retreat for 10 years, but after Gerry developed some health problems, they decided to buy another home that was closer to New York. Through friends, they learned of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina and after vacationing there, the couple fell in love with it.

By 1979, Gerry and Ingrid had moved to Hilton Head permanently. While Gerry continued with his photography, Ingrid Low became a highly successful real estate agent.

In the January 28, 1982 edition of the local Hilton Head newspaper, Low reminisced about getting his start with Peter Basch: "I learned everything I figured I should not use in my own career", he said. Notably, Basch would waste a lot of film, figuring ten percent of what he shot would be good. Low's view was that the photographer should concentrate on each exposure, not just shoot a lot of film in hopes something will work. Gerry Low also mentioned that he was not seeking "any high pressure work" of the sort he encountered in New York City. He would like the relaxed lifestyle he found on Hilton Head to pervade his photo studio, too.

Gerry Low (born Gerald H. Loew) passed away in Hilton Head on Dec. 29, 2007 and was buried in Six Oaks Cemetery. He was 88 years old.








 

Burr Jerger - Burr Jerger is a bit of a mystery to me as I have very little information on his early life other than that he was born on Sept. 6, 1917 in Chicago, Illinois. A hint as to his early years before becoming a photographer can be found in the December 1961 issue of Modern Man: "A veteran of show biz, graduate of University of Chicago law school, Jerger was a teacher until his hobby of photographing medical operations earned him national attention. Then he turned his full time to cameras with the result that today he is one of Hollywood's most successful glamour photogs."

I first became aware of Burr Jerger while reading the 1959 issue of Candid Photography, which featured an article by Mr. Jerger entitled "Glamour in Nature", which was illustrated with seven of his photos. More of Jerger's photography could be found in the 1959 Fawcett book Photographing Glamour with a chapter penned by him called "Glamour As An Art".

Photographing Glamour (1959) which featured a chapter of Burr Jerger's glamour photos.
 


A further result of my collecting glamour books and magazines from the 1950s and 60s led me to finding several more articles by Burr Jerger, including "Art With A Corroded Lens" (Figure Photography and Darkroom Guide - July 1957) and "Famous Faces" (Salon Photography - 1957).

Glamour models photographed by Burr Jerger included Valerie French, Shirley Falls (March 1959 issue of Caper), Lilli Kardell (Oct. 1961 issue of Saga magazine), Ginny Caldwell, Abby Dalton (Nov. 1957 issue of Nugget magazine), Jean Coleman, Kay Elhardt and Carol Morris (May 1958 issue of Male magazine) - she had been the winner of the 1957 Miss Universe Pageant.

In addition to glamour, Mr. Jerger also took candid photos of many of the top Hollywood stars of the day, including Judy Garland, Clark Gable, Anne Bancroft, Jane Russell, Raymond Massey, Jean Simmons, John Wayne, Buster Keaton, Robert Mitchum, Bob Hope, Ernest Borgnine, Debbie Reynolds and Robert Cummings.

Camera equipment used by Mr. Jerger included the medium format Rolleicord and Rolleiflex cameras as well as some 35mm. For B&W film, he used Kodak (Tri-X, etc.) and some Gevaert Gevapan 27, which was made in Belgium. For 35mm color, he often used Kodachrome.

In 1961, Burr Jerger left the United States and moved to Europe, where he worked as a freelance reporter for Show Business Illustrated, Ebony, and Globe Photos. He also served as assistant director on a few French films (uncredited) and appeared as an actor in Captain Sinbad (1963). In 1966, he moved to Belgium, where he would write, direct and star in his own film, General Massacre, a controversial independent feature that never received authentic distribution. In 1973, he left Belgium and went back to Paris, and later to the United States, where he once again worked as a freelance reporter/photographer.

Burr Jerger (born Wilbur Joseph Jerger) passed away on May 12, 1982 in Westminster, California following a long illness. He was 64 years old.






Frank Eck photographs Marilyn Maher in his Manhattan studio. Some of the photos would appear in the June 1958 issue of Hi-Life magazine.




Frank Eck - Frank Eck was a New York photographer who shot quite a bit of glamour in the late 50s and early 60s - he photographed six Playboy Playmates during that time period - but there is scant information published about him, either in magazines and books at the time, or on the internet. Because of this, I am asking any readers who have some information on this talented photographer to contact me (see the "contact me" page).

The first magazine that I could find which featured the glamour photography of Frank Eck was the August 1956 issue of The Dude (in a two page "photo-poem" called "My Love in Her Attire"). Later, some of his photos were featured in the June 1958 issue of Hi-Life magazine. In this issue, Frank was the subject of another photographer, John Duillo, who captured him at work in his Manhattan studio shooting two different models - Marilyn Maher and Teddy Martin. In addition to this, Frank photographed Zahra Norbo for the cover of the first issue of Venus magazine (1958) and Sharon Bujese for the cover and pictorial inside the Jan. 1959 issue of Scamp magazine. 

Frank Eck photographed Zahra Norbo for the cover of Venus magazine (1958)
Sharon Bujese on the cover of the Jan. 1959 issue of Scamp magazine. Photographed by Frank Eck.


Also in 1959, Frank sold two Playmate of the Month layouts to Playboy magazine. They were of Clayre Peters (Miss Aug. 1959) and Elaine Reynolds (Miss Oct. 1959). Hugh Hefner himself was on the set of Miss Reynolds' centerfold shoot. Over the next four years, Frank Eck sold one layout each year to the magazine: Elaine Paul (Miss Aug. 1960), Lynn Karrol (Miss Dec. 1961), Roberta Lane (Miss April 1962) and Adrienne Moreau (Miss March 1963). All of the above Playmates were from the New York City area.

Roberta Lane on the cover of the April 1962 issue of Playboy. Frank Eck photographed her Playmate of the Month layout inside the magazine.
 

The same year that his last Playmate pictorial appeared in Playboy, another of Frank Eck's New York models, Faye Symms, appeared in back to back issues of Modern Man magazine. In the January 1963 issue of Modern Man, one photo of Miss Symms was published in the Modern Art for Men section of the magazine and in the February 1963 issue, a four page layout by Frank Eck (in the Doll of the Month section) featured seven photos of Faye Symms.

In addition to shooting for Playboy and Modern Man, Frank Eck also occasionally shot glamour images for more mainstream magazines of the 60s, such as the February 1962 issue of Pageant magazine (below).

Frank Eck photographed Renata Boeck for the cover of the February 1962 issue of Pageant.
Frank Eck's photograph of model and actress Lisa Seagram appeared on the front cover of the November 1962 issue of Caper magazine.

Camera equipment used by Frank Eck included a medium format camera (probably a Rolleiflex) and an 8x10 camera, which he used for his Playmate centerfolds.

At this time, I haven't seen any additional glamour photos by Frank Eck, but I did learn that Frank took candid photos of stars such as Barbra Streisand for The Players Showcase magazine during the mid 60s and also photographed an auto race for an article entitled "North American Racing Team" in the June 1964 issue of Escapade magazine. Another article on a sports car race, "300 Miles at Bridgehampton", was published in the Sept. 1964 issue of Caper magazine and featured six photos taken by Frank Eck.

Update: Thanks to Maria Zambrana for letting me know that Frank Eck also had some automotive photos published in the June 1959 issue of Car Speed and Style in an article entitled "Autorama Time Again!". She later alerted me to the fact that Frank shot a pictorial in the December 1964 issue of Modern Man called "Our Fair Ladies", where Frank captured images of beautiful women at the New York World's Fair. The article can be viewed here

Update #2: Paul Moverman wrote to tell me that he had hired Frank in 1969 to do a photo shoot at a recording studio in Cranston, Rhode Island. Paul was 18 years old at the time and owned a small record label.

Update #3 (8/2/21): After obtaining a digital copy of the 1963-64 Manhattan telephone directory, I discovered that Frank Eck's real name was Franz W. Eck and his studio was located at 251 E 51st St. in Manhattan. After finding his true birth name, I went back to Ancestry.com and soon learned that Frank was born in New York on Sept. 8, 1932 (His father Franz, a butcher, and mother Ilse, a housewife, came to the U.S. from Germany. Frank would also have a younger brother named Eugene). During the Korean conflict, Frank served as a "Photographer's Mate" (PH3 rank) in the Navy / U.S. Coast Guard. After having his photos published in Playboy and Modern Man in the late 50s and early 60s, Frank seemed to have taken a little hiatus from shooting glamour, but in December of 1977, he began shooting layouts for Penthouse magazine using the name F.W. Eck. At this time, I've found that he made around four or five contributions to Penthouse, with one of them being the Pet of the Month pictorial for May 1978 (Angela Hyer). I hope to have more personal information on Mr. Eck very soon (I need to confirm some of it), but for now I will just note that Frank Eck passed away on June 6, 2008 at the age of 75. He was interred in the Long Island National Cemetery.

Update #4 (3/13/22): I just received a message from a professional photographer by the name of Michael Tagner. While he was in his early 20s, Michael worked for a small studio on Long Island, NY, and around 1983, Frank Eck was hired as the studio manager. Frank soon took Michael under his wing and showed him some of his techniques for photographing women. After a few years, Michael left and started his own commercial studio. About a year after that, Frank looked him up and became a sales rep for Michael's studio. During this time, the two did some photoshoots together; Frank found some models and Michael assisted him during the sessions. A few years later, Frank left Michael's studio and began working for a photo lab in Nassau County (Long Island), but he still brought jobs to Michael on occasion. After a while, Michael lost touch with Frank. The last time he saw him was in the late 80s or early 90s. By the way, I had previously found evidence that Frank Eck had been married twice - the first time in 1954 and again in 1966 - but Michael says that during the time he knew Frank, he was no longer married. 

 





 

Luandre Furia - Luandre Furia was still a comparative newcomer to glamour photography when a portfolio of his work was featured in the 1957 edition of Best Photography. The editors of the book particularly noted his knack for finding beautiful models.

Born in New York City on June 24, 1928, Luandre Furia was raised in an atmosphere close to the theater. His mother, Emily Furia, was a concert and opera singer. Because of this background, he always felt close to people in the entertainment field. He even studied drama for awhile when he first arrived in Hollywood.

Equipped with a twin-lens reflex camera that he obtained at a bargain, Furia discovered that it was a natural entre for him in Hollywood circles, and he began asking various starlets if they would mind posing for him. One instance of Furia approaching a prospective model was recounted by Playboy's Miss August 1956, Jonnie Nicely, in The Playmate Book (1996): "I was 18 when I met a photographer by the name of Lou Furia at a dance at the Inglewood Recreation Center. He wanted to know if I'd like to model. Then I got a call from Hal Adams to do a Hartog ad, and sometime after that he (Mr. Adams) asked me if I wanted to pose for Playboy."

A portfolio of Luandre Furia's photo work was published in the 1957 edition of Best Photography. The cover was shot by Peter Gowland.
 

In choosing models, Mr. Furia always liked to work with a girl who was ambitious to further her career. Such a model, he reasoned, always worked harder and was more willing to use her imagination in creating different and appealing poses.

Furia preferred natural settings to studios, often photographing a girl in the familiar and intimate surroundings of her own apartment or home. Once the location was decided upon, he would take as many as a couple of hundred different shots of the model in various poses and dress, perhaps obtaining a dozen or so really outstanding photos that had strong, immediate appeal to an editor or viewer.

Some of Luandre Furia's models included Laurette Luez, Jan Harrison, Sharon Walton, Beverly Montgomery, Carol Grace, June Svedin (Miss Washington in the 1956 Miss USA contest), Colleen O'Sullivan, Gale Robbins, Iris Bristol and June Wilkinson.

According to Best Photography (1957): "Furia loves his work and he expects to continue to specialize in the field of photographing beautiful, fresh-looking women."

Luandre Furia passed away on Nov. 28, 2002 in Los Angeles, California. He was 74 years old. His remains were taken back to New York state and he was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx, New York. If any readers know of Mr. Furia's activities in the 1960s, 70s, etc., please let me know.



 

Jon Pownall - Jon Pownall was a Chicago-based photographer, commercial director and filmmaker during the 1960s. When he decided to enter the field of glamour photography in the early 60s, it was natural for him to sell his photos to two men's magazines that were based in the area: Playboy (Chicago, IL) and Rogue (Evanston, IL).

Jon Pownall was born on Aug. 12, 1934 in Maryland, but the family later moved back to his mother's hometown of Sanford, Maine. At the age of 12 or 13, Jon received his first camera, a Brownie, as a gift from his mother. After graduating from high school, Jon moved to New York to attend Rochester Institute of Technology with the goal of becoming a photographer. At RIT, Jon met his wife Jean, and after they received their associate degrees, they moved to Chicago so Jon could finish college. They opened their studio shortly after Jon graduated in 1956/57. In their photography business, Jon and Jean were a team, with Jean doing the make-up on their models, buying props for ads and commercials and making meals for their clients.

In the early 60s, the Pownalls bought and remodeled a 3 story brick building at 918 W. Armitage in Chicago. The first floor was offices, a darkroom, a large studio area and a loading dock at the rear of the building. The 2nd floor had an editing room and a kitchen/living room/dining room to entertain clients. The basement had a projection room/theater and the family lived on the 3rd floor. It was while they were located in this building that Jon and Jean photographed the majority of their glamour work for Playboy and Rogue magazines.

Jon Pownall's first and only Playmate layout for Playboy magazine featured one of my all time favorite centerfolds. It was of Avis Kimble (Miss Nov. 1962).

The cover of the Jan. 1963 issue of Playboy magazine, which features a cropped version of Jon Pownall's centerfold of Avis Kimble (lower left).
 

During 1963, Mr. Pownall shot two covers for Rogue magazine (May and October) as well as three layouts inside the magazine. The first layout was a five page pictorial called "The History of Glamour" in the May issue, the second was the centerspread of Marion Anders (The Rogue Girl) in the August issue and the third was the four page pictorial "Rogue Throws A Yachting Party" in the December issue.

For 1964, when Rogue went to six issues per year, Jon Pownall photographed two of the Rogue Girl pictorials: Nina Forrest (January) and Toni-Lee Shelley (October). Toni-Lee Shelley gained notoriety for being arrested in Chicago for indecent exposure after she wore a topless bathing suit at a public beach.


Jon Pownall shot the cover for the May 1963 issue of Rogue magazine. Inside the magazine is a five page pictorial by Mr. Pownall called "The History of Glamour".
The cover of the October 1963 issue of Rogue magazine, photographed by Jon Pownall.

Camera equipment used by Pownall included the medium format Hasselblad, a Rolleiflex, and an 8x10 camera which he used for his Playboy and Rogue centerfolds.

Also during the 1960s, Jon Pownall branched out into directing TV commercials (for McDonalds, Bell and Howell, Oldsmobile, etc.) and by the early 70s he was even making his own feature length films. His first film, "Goodbye, Fat Larry", produced in 1970/'71, went unreleased.

In 1971, Jon moved his family - his wife Jean and three children - to Sanford, Maine and began preproduction on his second film, "The Salem Six". By August 1973, he had cast his film and was ready to start filming when, on August 31, he was shot to death by an unknown assailant at the film studio's office in Portland. Before long, it was discovered that someone had recently taken out $400,000 worth of life insurance on Jon. According to Lynda Pownall-Carlson (Jon's daughter) on her gofundme page, the motive for her father's murder was the insurance money and the appropriate people were put on trial, but were acquitted.

Today, Lynda Pownall-Carlson is trying to raise funds to be able to digitize her father's photos and film work. If you would like to contribute, please visit her page.

Jon Pownall was 39 years old at the time of his death. Jean Pownall passed away on September 13, 2012 at the age of 77. It had been her dream of 30 years to fund a movie about the life and death of her beloved husband.

Special thanks to Lynda Pownall-Carlson for providing most of the biographical information contained in this profile.




RBK Photography - I first noticed the glamour photography of RBK when it began to appear on a regular basis in the Modern Art for Men section of Modern Man sometime around the January 1963 issue. These two page color spreads in the magazine had usually been reserved for Ron Vogel during the early 60s, but in 1963, RBK began to take over this task. Later, they started to photograph models for the Doll of the Month section of the magazine, as well as being featured in issues of Figure Quarterly magazine (1965, 1967, 1971 and 1974).

The name RBK refers to the husband and wife team of Rudy and Blanca Kratochvil. Coming to the U.S. from Europe, the couple established RBK studios in Hollywood and San Francisco in an amazingly short period of time. Although glamour photography was their specialty, they were equally skilled in the fields of commercial, industrial and portrait photography.

When Rudy and Blanca first met in Europe several years earlier, Rudy enjoyed an international reputation for his salon exhibitions in many countries and Blanca was planning a medical career, but she soon became interested in photography and the two joined forces. It was to Rudy's credit that, as a teacher, his star pupil became his equal. According to Blanca: "Photography itself offers such a splendid variety of studies that to be a successful photographer in any field - and especially figure photography - one has to know everything. Besides the camera techniques and lighting, there are things like the basics of choreography and make-up artistry. One should also have a feeling for nature and landscape, in order to blend them together with the beauty of the nude."

Ever since Rudy's graduation from photographic engineering school, his special field of interest lay in the technical and theoretical aspects of the art. He is credited with inventing a special development formula which shortened the color printing process considerably. It was this method that he used at RBK studios in California.

Figure Quarterly (Fall 1965) which featured Nudes of RBK Studios.

Figure Quarterly (Fall 1967) which featured The Nudes of RBK. The cover features model Dorothy Roome


As far as black and white artistic nudes were concerned, one of the Kratochvils' main influences was Andre de Dienes. Several of their outdoor nudes, as seen in Figure Quarterly, show this influence quite clearly. For lighting these nude studies, the Kratochvils commented: "It is our opinion that natural lighting outdoors is greater than any system yet designed by man. That is why we are so reluctant to use any fill-in light when working outdoors. While it is true that sunlight can't be controlled, like artificial light in a studio, nevertheless, the subject within that light can be controlled. By placing the model here and there, a variety of effects may be achieved."

Some of the Kratochvils' glamour models which were featured in Modern Man include: Madlene Lantz (Jan. '63), Heide Miller (July '63), Erika Hausner (Sept. '63), Maria Horstwig (Sept. '64), Dodie Thompson (Oct. '64), Wendy Alexander (Jan. '65), Julie Ariel (April '65), Tina Wood (May '65), Kelly Kaye (Sept. '65), Lilli Shan (Sept. '65), Denien Novak (Oct. '65), Gina Lance (Nov. '65), Mary Barrett (Aug. '66), Rita Bergman (Feb. '67), Nancy Peterson (June '67), Erica Brodsky (June '67), Ivanna Reese (Dec. '67),  Linda McAllen (Dec. '67) and Linda Newell (Aug. '69). Their artistic nude models, featured in Figure Quarterly and occasionally in Modern Man, were not named, in order to keep them impersonal.

One of the secrets to the success of the Kratochvils was an untiring devotion to their work. Said Blanca in the Fall 1967 issue of Figure Quarterly: "Neither of us has a hobby, thus all of our spare time is devoted to our life, which is photography."

If any readers know what became of Rudy and Blanca Kratochvil in the last half of the 70s, the 1980s, 90s, etc., please contact me so that I may update this profile! Update: I have come across the information that during the early to mid 80s Rudy and Blanca would sometimes photograph porn stars (one notable example would be Christy Canyon).

Update #2: Searching Ancestry.com, I found that husband and wife Josef Rudolf Kratochvil and Blanka Kratochvil entered the U.S. (New York, NY) on December 17, 1958. Both had been born in Czechoslovakia (Blanka - Dec. 20, 1939 and Josef Rudolf - July 27, 1924). They became citizens of the U.S. in 1964. Rudy passed away on May 14, 1990 in Los Angeles, CA. He was 65 years old. His ashes were interred at Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Memorial Park in Westlake Village, California.













Donald Klumpp at 
the age of 23 or 24





Donald Klumpp - Donald Klumpp was a Texan who arrived in Los Angeles in 1959 and shot glamour and nudes to help pay his way through the famed Art Center School. He was an almost immediate success and was published in several magazines and books. After graduation, he returned to Texas in 1963 and set up a studio in Houston. It was there that, six years later, he would photograph Jean Bell (Miss Oct. 1969) for Playboy magazine.

Donald Gene Klumpp was born on Sept. 8, 1935 in Falfurrias, Texas. At the age of 19, he enlisted in the service. For the first two years, he "floundered around, looking for a medium of the arts that I would like - and yet provide me with a good income." Klumpp settled on photography shortly after purchasing his first camera. Having taught himself the fundamentals of photography, he started shooting models while still in the service, and due to a background in art, he was successful in selling some of his first sets. "I started shooting nudes in the very beginning," he said, "since even with a limited art background, I learned that the nude is a challenge to render with good taste and meaning."

In 1960, a selection of 11 of Mr. Klumpp's nudes would be published in Figure Quarterly (Vol. 29). His glamour work would go on to be published in the books Famous Photographers Photograph Beautiful Women (1963) and Figure Studies by Famous Photographers (1965).

Famous Photographers Photograph Beautiful Women (1963) Cover photograph of Stella Stevens by Frank Bez.
Figure Studies by Famous Photographers (1965) Cover photograph of Kathy Kersh by Frank Bez.

By 1963, Klumpp did ninety percent of his glamour sets with the Mamiyaflex C2. His favorite lens for the C2 was the 180mm, which he used for most of his work. He used a Pentax for 35mm work and a backup Rolleiflex for medium format. For the studio, he used either the Mamiyaflex or a Gowlandflex with a 9 1/2" Symar lens. The Gowlandflex was extremely handy in shooting covers and centerspreads for editors who still wanted the 4x5 transparency.

During his stay in Los Angeles, Donald Klumpp photographed many of the local models, including Gloria Dawn (go to my Glamour Models page to see a color photo of Gloria Dawn by Mr. Klumpp). Other models photographed by Donald Klumpp included Karen Parker, Stanny Van Baer, Jean Briggs, Penny Bello, Marianna Hill, Sharon Hillyer, Susan Cunningham and Susan Wood (featured in the June 1962 issue of Modern Man in the Modern Art for Men section). It was also in LA where Don met Peter Gowland and the two became good friends. Peter's 4x5 Gowlandflex camera soon became one of Don's favorites, as mentioned above.

After Klumpp's return to Texas, his search for models became more complicated, as Houston did not have the endless source of models that the West Coast offered. He had to resort to newspaper advertising, the use of individuals who find models for a fee, friends, and his wife Lorraine, in his quest for acceptable models. He ended up using one out of every twenty girls he interviewed.

It was in 1969, while in his Houston studio, that Donald Klumpp would photograph Jean Bell for the October 1969 Playmate of the Month pictorial. Previously, Miss Bell had entered the Miss Houston and Miss Texas contests (coming in fourth and third, respectively) and Jean's winnings included a scholarship to a Houston modeling school. She was soon off on a new career, which led to working with Don Klumpp and appearing in Playboy magazine.

Cover of the Oct. 1969 issue of Playboy magazine, which featured Donald Klumpp's Playmate pictorial of Jean Bell.
 

Don also started the first Houston American Society of Magazine Photographers (ASMP) chapter and was on the National Board of ASMP for many years.

In the 1960s, Don first met Anne Rippy, who would later become an important part of his life. At the time, Anne modeled for several of Don's photo projects, but many years later she became a professional photographer herself, and in 1984 they both spent several weeks in China on an ASJA (American Society of Journalists and Authors) trip sponsored by the Chinese Tourist Board. During this trip, Don and Anne fell in love with China (as well as each other) and realizing that the country would be changing fast, they sponsored three more trips for professional photographers to many areas of China over the next two years. It was such fun that they also put together other photo trips (again for professional photographers) to Kenya, Morocco, and Peru.

In the mid to late 80s, Don and Anne traveled around the U.S. speaking to ASMP meetings about stock photo production. In 1991, the two left their home base of Houston for Anacortes, Washington on Fidalgo Island. After 9 years in the Pacific Northwest, they found that they were spending too much on production traveling to places with better weather, so they moved to Miami for the blue skies and wide talent base. Miami lost its appeal after 6 years and the two finally settled in Asheville, North Carolina in 2005. Don and Anne continued to shoot stock photographs together for many years.

It was in Asheville where Donald Klumpp suddenly passed away on April 30, 2013. He was 77 years old.

Special thanks to Anne Rippy, who supplied much of the biographical information for this profile.



 

Jerry Tannen - After researching the lives of 1950s and 60s glamour photographers for several years, I have come across the background of one photographer that has truly surprised me. Gerald B. Tannen was a busy Los Angeles attorney who dabbled (quite successfully, under the name Jerry Tannen) in glamour photography. From the late 50s through the early 60s, Mr. Tannen's photos were printed in books and magazines that dealt with the subject of glamour. He was represented by Globe Photos, Inc. of New York City, which was also the agent for many other top photographers of the period, including Frank Bez, Russ Meyer, Donald Klumpp, Don Ornitz and Ken Parker.

Gerald Tannen was born on Oct. 2, 1915 in New York City. By 1941, he was living in California where he married Lois Juanita Green (she was 21, he was 25 or 26). Their first daughter, Barbara Ruth Tannen, was born in Los Angeles (although some sources say her birthplace was San Francisco) on August 12, 1942. Their second daughter, Kathy Lee Tannen was born in 1947.

Gerald attended the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (known as Boalt Hall until Jan. 2020) and graduated with the class of 1940. During WWII he served in the United States Naval Reserve.

In the mid to late 1950s, Mr. Tannen's desire to shoot glamour led him to evolve into quite a talented photographer. I do not yet know how long he had been interested in photography or who his influences had been in the field of glamour, but what I have seen of his work has been quite impressive. To see a photo of Kitty Randall that was taken by Jerry Tannen, click here.
Update (12/10/20): Regarding Jerry's influences - in an article on "Candid Portraits" that he wrote for Candid Photography (1960), he mentioned the following: "I am fortunate in numbering among my friends Don Ornitz and Russ Meyer, each of whom enjoys an enviable reputation in the field of glamour photography. A study of their techniques, working methods and philosophy has been of great value to me." 

Camera equipment used by Jerry Tannen consisted mostly of Nikon 35mm cameras and one medium format camera. For black and white, he generally used two 35mm Nikon SPs, with a 35mm or 50mm lens on one and a 105mm or 135mm lens on the other. That gave him over 70 pictures before it was necessary to reload and allowed him to take both full figure and closeups without having to change lenses or move about unnecessarily in order to fill the frame completely. For color, he preferred a reflex over a rangefinder and used a Nikon F with a 58mm or 135mm or 85-250mm zoom lens for maximum versatility. If larger negatives were required, he turned to a Mamiyaflex 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 with either the 80mm normal lens or the 180mm telephoto, depending on whether he was shooting full figure or closeup.

Mr. Tannen's house in Los Angeles (1230 N. Chickory Lane) was equipped with a studio, where he would begin shooting his glamour photos. In Nov. 1961, the house burned in the "Bel Air" fire and Tannen House was rebuilt in 1962 based on the foundation of the original plans. In 1963, he wrote: "My home, recently completed, contains a studio which is glass from floor to ceiling on two sides and also has good north light. The ceiling is painted white and contains two large plastic skylights. The floor is of white vinyl curved into a vinyl-covered wall to provide a built-in seamless background. The fourth wall is also white and contains holders for rolls of seamless background paper of various colors. If directional lighting is desired, it can be provided by drapes which cut down the light from one glass wall and by using dark background paper to cut down the reflection of light from a white interior wall. Under these conditions, artificial light is necessary only on extremely dark winter days, for special effects, or for evening or night shooting sessions." Tannen's house still exists in Los Angeles and although it has not been inhabited by Mr. Tannen for many decades (Conrad Bain, the sitcom star, owned the house for several years), it is still often referred to as "Tannen House".

A few of Jerry Tannen's models were Christine Kaufmann, Kirsten Olsen, Helle Hertz, June Bergman, Giselle Gallois, Rosanna Schiaffino (May 1960 issue of Pageant magazine), Lisbeth Nielsen, Michele Mercier, Carol Lynn, Kathy Sherman (May 1963 issue of Man's magazine), Judy Gringer, Carolyn Duke, Debbie Lane (Nov. 1960 issue of Modern Man), Kitty Randall (August 1961 issue of Escapade) and Gerta Belzer (Oct. 1962 issue of Man's magazine).


August 1961 issue of Escapade featuring photos of Kitty Randall by Jerry Tannen. Cover photo of Abby Dalton is by Don Ornitz.
Famous Photographers Photograph Beautiful Women (1963). Features many photos by Jerry Tannen, including several of Kitty Randall. Cover photo of Stella Stevens by Frank Bez.

Of working with models, Jerry wrote: "Professional models are not always the answer. Often the most effective layout features a girl who has had little or no modeling experience. Unless she has had dance training or natural poise, she will be self-conscious before the camera, especially as what to do with her hands. Here the prop becomes important. It gives the girl something to do, such as with a telephone or a pet."

Jerry also wrote: "An air of mystery adds glamour to a subject and for that reason concealing is sometimes more effective than revealing. Even when working with nudes, where concealment may be at a minimum, it can be done effectively with light and shadow, by position of the body, by the use of props, or even using hair to cover part of the face. To conceal and yet to suggest allows the viewer to call upon his imagination, and invariably he will supply that which pleases him."

Regarding his personal life, Gerald and his wife Lois would divorce in 1965 after 24 years of marriage and in late 1966, Mr. Tannen married Katherin H. Langlands. I do not have any information on possible children from this marriage, but I do know that Gerald's first-born daughter Barbara passed away tragically young of cancer on June 6, 1978 (she was 35). Five years earlier, Gerald's ex-wife Lois passed away in Los Angeles from the same cancer. She was 53 years of age. Daughter Kathy Tannen went on to become an entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles and has since retired.

Later in life, Gerald B. Tannen retired from his career as a probate and estate planning attorney and on August 1, 1993, he passed away from heart failure. He was 77 years old. His ashes were interred at Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Memorial Park in Westlake Village, California.


 














Photo of Larry Caye and his first wife Helga, who was a hairdresser and assistant. The photo was taken circa 1971. The two would divorce in 1978.



Larry Caye - I only recently became familiar with the name Larry Caye when some of his negatives and transparencies came up for sale on ebay in recent years (2018-2020). I found his work in the mid to late 60s and early 70s to be quite interesting. One could say that it was almost "Gowlandesque" (see my profile on Peter Gowland). Although I was not familiar with his name, I did have knowledge of Larry's company, The Latent Image. I had seen ads in the back of some magazines offering slides and negatives of models for sale in the 1990s, though I never ordered anything from him.










An ad that appeared in the Oct. 1967 issue of Popular Photography. Note the model's pose and expression. The image to me seems very reminiscent of the work of Peter Gowland.






In one sense, much of Larry's career is beyond the purview of this site, as he followed the trends of the 1970s, 80s and 90s and began shooting models and porn stars in sexually explicit poses. This was a far cry from his work in the 60s and early 70s which was more focused on interesting poses and expressions, just like the majority of 1950s and 60s glamour. Still, it is Larry Caye's photography from the 1960s that warrants his inclusion on this website.

Larry Emerson Caye was born on February 26, 1936, and at the age of four, Larry's family was living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1954 Larry joined the Marine Corps and by the time of his discharge in 1958 he had saved enough money to attend photography school in New York. He then landed a job where he worked with New York photographer Tom Caravaglia (1928-2014), who would become a much revered dance photographer. Tom, as Larry put it, "taught me how to squeeze every last bit of brilliance out of color transparency film."

In the early 60s, Larry wanted to try his luck in Hollywood and soon found a job as an assistant to Frank Bez, who had already photographed 5 Playmates of the Month for Playboy. After being Bez' assistant for a little over two years, Larry Caye decided to go out on his own and founded his company The Latent Image in 1965.





An image of beautiful model Brooke Mills that was shot by Larry Caye/The Latent Image circa 1970-1971. Brooke was a favorite model of Peter Gowland and Gowland claimed that he was one of only two photographers who took nude/semi-nude photos of her. The other photographer was Frank Bez.




Larry's early models included some familiar names to 1960s/early 70s glamour fans, including Lois Mitchell, Mickey Jines, Candace Thayer/Candy Elkins (Peter Gowland and Ron Vogel also photographed her) and Brooke Mills (see above). A few of his other early models included Raquel Welch, Mary Bauer, Gina Dair, Linda West, Pat Grivans, Annette Moore, Karen Nichols, Cindy Barnett, Beverly Woods and Chris Thornton.

By the Fall of 1970, Larry's nudes appeared in Figure Photography Quarterly and his work was also featured in two more issues of the magazine (Winter 1972 and Spring 1976).











Figure Photography Quarterly Winter 1972 featuring the nude photography of Larry Caye.














Men's magazines that featured Larry Caye's photos during the 1970s included:
Swank (early to mid 70s)
Genesis (late 70s/early 80s)
California Girl (1973)
Cheri (April '79)
High Society (late 70s to late 80s)

In the 1980s, Larry began to focus more and more on photographing and filming porn stars and models who would pose for explicit content. The 8mm films that Larry produced would be offered in his Latent Image catalogs.

On the more personal side, Larry would marry Carolyn Stein (born 1958) in 1986 and Carolyn Stein Caye would give birth to Larry's only daughter, Christy L. Caye, in Los Angeles in Oct. 1991.

Larry Caye continued to operate his Latent Image business until 1998, when he decided to retire. He was around 62 years old. At some point, Larry and Carolyn moved to Folsom, California, which is approximately 23 miles from Sacramento. Sometime after that Larry and Carolyn would divorce, although they continued to remain very close friends. 



Two photos of Larry Caye in his later years.



Larry E. Caye passed away on Nov. 21, 2012 in Folsom, California following a short illness. He was 76 years old. I will always remember him for his classy glamour images from the 1960s and early 70s.

Update (2/10/24): A few days ago, I received a very thoughtful email from Larry's daughter Christy and she confirmed that her father's early work was indeed influenced by Peter Gowland. She wrote: "My dad told me that sometime before he started photography school, maybe when he was in the Marines, he came across a book of Peter Gowland's work. Upon this discovery he thought something like 'Well that seems like the best job in the world! Running around taking photos of beautiful (half-naked) women.' That encounter with Peter's work inspired him to go to photography school."

Christy also wrote that not long before Peter's passing, her father sent an email to Peter and basically said "You inspired the course of my entire life, thank you." Peter responded right away and thanked him and said he was familiar with Larry's work too. They went on to discuss many topics, including photography. Christy commented: "It was a very sweet email exchange and I was surprised those two had never previously met or had that conversation before that point." She concluded with "I'm sure my dad wasn't the only photographer Peter inspired, but at least in this case my dad was able to let Peter know how he had influenced him and his life."






 

Arnold Rubenstein - I first saw the photography of Arnold Rubenstein in the Fawcett photo digests of the late 50s and early 60s (Good Photography, Candid Photography, Salon Photography and Prize Winning Photography) and was always impressed with his work. When I began collecting Modern Man magazines around 2012 or so, I found that Mr. Rubenstein's photographs of women would occasionally be featured in the Modern Art For Men section. What I found a little surprising about all of these publications was that during a short period of time (1958 through 1960), Rubenstein's "base of operations" changed fairly often. In the September 1958 issue of Modern Man, he was described as "a New York urbanite". In the 1958 edition of Candid Photography, he had three images published, two of which mentioned him as living in Hollywood, California and the other as coming from New York City. In the December 1960 issue of Modern Man, he was referred to as the "celebrated Miami Beach lensman". So, it appears he moved around the country quite a bit during his most prolific period of shooting glamour. Update: Although Arnold Rubenstein did live in both Los Angeles, CA and Miami, FL in the 1950s and 60s, I have learned from Arnold's nephew that he never resided in New York City. Apparently, a few different publications from the era printed this erroneous information!

As I began to collect more men's magazines from the late 50s, I found that Arnold Rubenstein also shot for the magazines Adam (1957 and 1958), Adventure (1959), Escapade (1958), Fling (1958), Sir Knight (1958) and Figure Quarterly (1958, 1959 and 1960).

A few of Mr. Rubenstein's models included: Melody Ward (Modern Man, March 1958 and Escapade, Oct. 1958), Kelly Green (Fling No. 6, 1958), Madeline Castle (Fling No. 9, 1958, Modern Man, Dec. '60 and Modern Man, Jan. '61), Bambi Rogers (Sir Knight, Vol. 1, No. 3, 1958), Darlene Carr (Adam, Oct. '58), Ann Peters (Modern Man, July '58), Brandy Case (Modern Man, Sept. '58), Bambi Hamilton (Modern Man, Dec. '58) and Sandra Edwards (Adventure, June '59).

Oct. 1958 issue of Escapade which features photos of Melody Ward by Arnold Rubenstein. Cover photo by Herb Flatow.
Fling No. 6, 1958, with photos of Kelly Green by Arnold Rubenstein.


Figure Quarterly Volume Twenty One (Summer 1958). Cover by Arnold Rubenstein and Art Messick.

Figure Quarterly Volume Twenty Two (Fall 1958). Cover of Sandra Edwards by Arnold Rubenstein. 


Arnold Jay Rubenstein was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on January 11, 1921. After high school, he attended one year of college. Since Arnold's father had built several theaters in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Arnold was involved with the family business and helped manage the theaters in the early 40s. At the age of 21 (1942), Arnold enlisted in the Army and served as a bombardier in the Army Air Corps during WWII and flew many missions in the European Theatre. When he returned to Minneapolis, he again managed the theaters for a short while. In the early 50s, Arnold moved to Los Angeles where he apprenticed with Art Messick and then later went out on his own. He stayed in LA until 1959, when he moved to Miami, Florida. In 1968, Arnold Rubenstein relocated to Israel, where he lived for the next 10 years. After returning to the U.S. in 1978, he took up residence in South Florida, where he remained for the rest of his life.

For camera equipment, Arnold relied mostly on his Rolleiflex when shooting glamour and nudes. He also did all of his own darkroom work.

Rubenstein broke into the glamour field by studying his favorite photographers. He paid particular attention to the works of Andre de Dienes, Peter Basch and Don Ornitz, and incorporated the most appealing techniques into his own style. "I admire de Dienes above all others for his interpretation of the female nude," he said. "Basch is my favorite when it comes to 'glamorizing' the female, and Ornitz is a photographer who consistently puts out candid compositions done in excellent taste with the skill of a professional."

If you would like to see some of Arnold Rubenstein's photography, you can often find some of the Fawcett photo digests on ebay at reasonable prices. His work can be seen in the following books: Salon Photography 1957, pages 85 & 130, Good Photography 1958, pages 90 & 100, Salon Photography 1958, p. 86, Candid Photography 1958, pages 96, 129 & 138, Prize Winning Photography 1958, pages 24, 57,115 & 144, Good Photography 1959, p. 84, Photography Handbook 1959, pages 109 & 144, Good Photography 1960, p. 91, Salon Photography 1964, p. 38, and Good Photography 1966, p. 104.

Some of Arnold's interests later in life included various research projects, computers, comparative religions and health and nutrition. He would study and learn everything he could about any subject that interested him.

Arnold J. Rubenstein passed away at the age of 92 on February 5th, 2013 in Hollywood, Florida. In his obituary, it states that he was a graduate of St. Thomas Military Academy (the only all male college-preparatory military high school in Minnesota), a WWII Army Veteran, movie theater manager, avid photographer, researcher, author, and promoter of social justice and physical and mental well-being.

Mr. Rubenstein, who never married nor had any children, was interred at the Minneapolis Jewish Cemetery.


Update (4/28/21): A few of Arnold Rubenstein's relatives have recently gifted me with three of Arnold's photo albums which contain a total of 120 glamour images produced during the late 50s and early 60s. I have scanned ten of these 8x10 photos and have uploaded them to this page. Some of Arnold's most well-known models are featured (Madeline Castle, Sandra Edwards, Vikki Dougan and Patti Conley). Be advised that a few of these images are semi-nudes.






















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