1930s - FRANK HILLGARDNER by LOU MELAN

Another early photographer was Lou Melan (?-?). He worked alongside photographers like Townsend and the Ritters, capturing models in the studio and outdoors. Two of the brothers who posed for Melan were the body-culturists Frank (1918-1996) and Bill Hillgardner (1915-2001). Some of his best work parallels any of the work from the Ritter Brothers. Melan was also a photographer for New York's Metropolitan Opera in the 1930s and '40s.