The Ritter Brothers: Pioneering Gay Porn Photography in the 1930s
The Great Depression of the 1930s was a difficult time for many Americans. With unemployment rates soaring and times being tough, people had to get creative to make ends meet. For brothers Fred and William Ritter, living in Astoria, Long Island, New York, the key to financial stability lay in the male physique.
The Ritter brothers were both physique models themselves, chiseled from years of weightlifting and exercise. They took stunning photographs of themselves and other muscular men they met at local gyms, showcasing perfectly toned bodies and chiseled physiques. These photographs were then sold to fitness publications such as Strength and Health, which had a wide readership.
But the Ritters’ photographs were more than just anatomical studies. Beneath their innocent surface, the images exuded a raw, homoerotic energy. Tightly-clad buttocks, rippling six-packs, and bulging muscles combined to create an undeniable sexual charge. For men with same-sex desires at the time, the Ritter brothers’ photos were a rare and much-needed outlet for expression.
The brothers’ business flourished, buoyed by the demand for their unique brand of beefcake photography. They became pioneers in the field, paving the way for later gay erotic photographers. While their work was certainly controversial by 1930s standards, the cowboy hats, skimpy briefs and playful innuendo in their photos cannot be denied.
In a time when being openly gay was extremely taboo, the Ritter brothers subtly subverted this by putting eroticized male bodies on pages openly available to the public, whether as fitness inspiration or fetish object. For this, they remain iconic figures in the history of gay porn.