SAN FRANCISCO—Gay adult studio Athletic Model Guild has released its second application for the iPhone. “AMG Beefcake!” displays a choice selection of images from the collected works of beefcake photography pioneer and AMG founder Bob Mizer.
Using the new app, iPhone and iPod owners can download, view, set as wallpaper and share more than 150 images from a time when male nudity not only was frowned upon, but illegal. While titillating, the images display no full-frontal nudity. AMG views the application’s acceptance for sale in Apple’s iTune’s App Store as evidence of change—albeit slow—in Apple’s attitude about erotica.
“It’s been over two months since we sent ‘AMG Beefcake!’ to Apple for approval,” AMG Director of Communications Christopher Trout said. “It’s taken them this long to figure out what the rest of the world has known for more than half a century: Beefcake is as American as apple pie, and just as innocent.”
“AMG Beefcake!” is the first vintage gay male photography app to be approved by Apple. Late last month an app titled “Hottest Girls” appeared in the iTunes store, displaying multiple shots of topless women. After pulling the app almost as soon as it became available, Apple told CNN “adult content” would not be allowed in the store. Trout said while AMG won’t try and sneak anything past Apple’s censors, the studio won’t stop pushing the envelope, either.
“We’ve got a couple of fully nude apps in the works,” Trout said. “It’s just a matter of time before Apple loosens its reins, and when they do, you’ll be seeing a whole lot more of our models on your iPhone.”
Like the studio’s first application “AMG Brasil Boys,” which was released last month, the new app sells for 99 cents. The images, selected from a collection that includes nearly one million individual photographs, show bodybuilders, military men and blue-collar workers from the turn of the 20th century clad in posing straps, briefs and bathing suits. Dennis Bell, the studio’s president, said the app is a reflection of the groundbreaking style that made AMG an inspiration to gay artists and audiences the world over.
“Bob’s black-and-white work has become synonymous with a certain period in gay photography,” Bell said. “We wanted to celebrate his photography, but at the same time move it forward by delivering some of his best work on a 21st-century platform. ‘AMG Beefcake!’ is full of Bob’s most popular models, including John Tristram, Juwa Lavonce, Dennis Lavia, Richard DuBois and Forrester Millard. It’s a really beautiful marriage of two very different times.”
For more information, search the iTunes App Store for “AMG” or visit the studio’s website at AthleticModelGuild.com.
