LOS ANGELES—David Hurles, the pioneering gay pornographer who became known in the 1970s for his erotic photographs of San Francisco street hustlers through his company Old Reliable, has died at 78, according to The Bay Area Reporter.
Hurles passed away at a nursing home in Los Angeles on April 12 due to complications from a stroke he suffered in 2008, according to the report, which cited an obituary from the Bob Mizer Foundation. Named in honor of the late photographer Bob Mizer, the institution is dedicated to “the promotion and preservation of progressive and controversial photography."
Dian Hanson, who manages Hurles’ photo estate, informed the Mizer Foundation, according to the report.
Hurles started Old Reliable in the 1970s, seeking out rough-trade types and shooting them posing, stripping and masturbating. He went on to produce and direct more than 270 videos for the brand from 1983-2003, according to IAFD, creating a line that many considered the original reality porn.
According to The Bay Area Reporter, Den Bell, founder and president of the Mizer Foundation, said, “The Bob Mizer Foundation extends its condolences to Dian Hansen, to David Hurles' friends and family, and to his fans.
“David’s work for Old Reliable exposed gay audiences to a subculture in which we found excitement and thrills, an encounter with the type of man we have always been told to avoid. His pioneering work in the field has revolutionized the art of desire."
A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Hurles attended the University of Cincinnati and had a brief stint in the military before moving to California to work as a photographer for Conrad and Lloyd, The Bay Area Reporter said.
His photos were published in several gay magazines, most notably Drummer, where he met editor Jack Fritscher, who would become his longtime friend.
Fritscher told The Bay Area Reporter, ”Before a model in a scene accidentally kicked David in the head in Los Angeles in 1990 and ruined his focus, David shot thousands of photos and 300 feature videos documenting the culture of street hustlers while living in SOMA and Los Angeles. When the scary models in his silent photos began to talk in his wild solo videos in 1981, he spread his income hiring more than 500 often unhoused drifters, ex-cons, and rentboys in his preferred casting order of straight, bi, and gay because in his Reality TV esthetic, they were authentic and could talk dominantly directly into the camera."
Fritscher collaborated with Hurles for 47 years documenting Old Reliable at drummerarchives.com, the story said.
Hurles’ work was brought to life in the 2010 illustrated book Outcast and in the 2005 book Speeding: The Old Reliable Photos of David Hurles.
According to The Bay Area Reporter, the Mizer's Foundation's flagship publication Physique Pictorial will focus an upcoming volume on Hurles' life and legacy.
Photo via OldReliableFund.blogspot.com
