In an industry where even the best and the brightest female models hang on to careers thisshort, Bruce has infinitely multiplied the usually brief shelf life of successful models, be they boy or girl.

His staying power is not only due to his good looks (even as he matures), but also to his solid life philosophy and his love of adventure on both sides of the camera (he currently photographs professionally, while still modeling).

Now, Bruce has collected his thoughts and many of his photographs in his new memoir called Sex, Love and Fashion: A Memoir of A Male Model.

“Most male models are good storytellers,” he says. “They’ve been around. They’ve traveled. Most of them are college educated. They have outside interests. They are generally adventurers. They’re romantic people. And in modeling, there is a lot of down time. So they have a lot of great stories. They have a lot of time to sit around and perfect their storytelling.”

A Philadelphia native and practicing Buddhist, Bruce has appeared on countless magazine covers (including GQ), and hobnobbed (and, in some cases, more) with the likes of Andie MacDowell, Lauren Hutton and other supermodels. He also crossed paths with superstar photographer Bruce Weber and designer Calvin Klein, and posed for bazillions of catalogs, print ads and magazine editorials.

“It’s more of a spiritual journey,” he says of his book. “I mention some names and some romances I’ve had because it’s part of the story line, but it’s not as much a tell-all as the press would make you think.

“It’s really the story of a journey, my relationship with Bruce Weber, my development as model and as a person, and my search for true love. In that sense, I feel very proud that I wrote a very honest memoir. It’s not a book about shagging female models. There is a whole journey here, to self-realization and self-fulfillment, through that crazy world of modeling.”

Like most successful models, his upbringing did nothing to lend itself to a career in modeling. His track-star father held the American record for ten years for running the mile. Bruce himself was a college basketball player and contemplating the sport as a profession. However, his life took an unexpected turn when discovered while lifeguarding in New Jersey. 

Still, he pursued the profession, and, in turn, it pursued him.

“My mom was the typical mom,” he says of his supportive but baffled parents. “She was like, ‘when are you going to get a real job?’ And when I first started modeling, it was like, ‘how can you be a model? You don’t even own a comb! You’re a slob!’”

Nevertheless, he cleaned up real nice, and suited up for The Big Time.

“There have been so many amazing trips with great chemistry and great people,” he says. “Probably one of the best if not the best job was my initial very beginning of my career, traveling with Bruce Weber to Greece for Calvin Klein. That was my first big booking.

“I had been modeling for less than six months with not any success at all. I had done one editorial in Paris, and then Weber met me and put me into L’omo Vogue.

“He wanted me to meet Calvin Klein. Calvin loved me and they had me go to Greece. On that one job was Iman, Andie MacDowell and Joan Severance. I was doing all the sportswear and suits for Calvin. We were there for two weeks. A big crew of people and models. We took over one end of the island. I was making three grand a day, which was a lot of money back then.

“I ended up having this incredible affair and romance with Andie MacDowell. Incredible photographs. I could just tell there was magic being created. And I knew that these pictures were going to define me as a male model and put me on the map. So I had the magic and power of this job, and it was going to lead to so many other jobs. And, of course, it did. This was 1982. It led to GQ and after that I basically worked non-stop. [Bruce] Weber and I found out that we were kindred spirits. We both loved old Liz Taylor movies and sports and surfing and martial arts. At that point, I wanted to take pictures myself. It was a peak experience, but it also showed me how powerful and how beautiful the modeling experience can be. And how profound.”

That was a long way from his own childhood, where he was always a reluctant photo subject.

“I actually hate getting my picture taken,” he says. “I hated it as a kid. In family photos, I would be the one with my head down. But when somebody is paying you a lot of money, and you’ve got a great photographer and a great talent and you are creating something beautiful, I come alive.

“I am very judgemental about photographs because I have been photographed by some of the best and have been photographed in amazing pictures. Sometimes it’s great to be part of a really powerful, beautiful image. And then other times I see myself and I say, ‘that’s the Cryptmaster looking  at me! That’s the last shot I’ll ever shoot. That shot is going to bury me!’ But it depends on the photograph. Some I love. The ones I did with Lauren Hutton were just spectacular. And the shots I have done with Weber and Herb Ritt.”

He is able to connect his strong spiritual beliefs to the sensitive dance of a photo shoot.

“I had studied Buddhism at Cornell, but my minor was acting,” he says. “I’ve been used to performing as a basketball player in front of people and as a track star and a surfer. I like being the center of attention.

His advice for younger models is: “Modeling is an art form,” he says. “The best thing for a model is to study acting. And to really understand that [clients] don’t want a dead, wooden person or mannequin. They want a person. They want an actor, really. And the best photographers really are trying to get some feeling or mood or something from you. It’s something that you learn by doing.

“Initally, you’re terrified. You’re out there and they’re like, ‘go over and put your arm around the girl,’ and you’re shaking and self-conscious. Eventually, you gain the self-confidence and you gain the flair and you know your angles and where you look best. At the same time that you are doing that, you can lose yourself in the moment of the photograph. Be spontaneous if the photographer wants you to be, or if the photographer is leading you someplace, you have the awareness to see what that photographer wants. Every shoot is different.”

Although Bruce has millions of fans all over the world, he may have one detractor, who lives in his own house!

“My son, who is twelve, thinks modeling is ridiculous,” he says. “He’ll ask me, ‘how can you be a model? You’re an old guy. Why didn’t you play professional basketball or do something with your degree?’”

 

Photos courtesy of BruceHulse.com

To get Bruce’s book and to find out more about him, go to

www.brucehulse.com

Copyright ©2008 FabulMag.com  All rights reserved.

All questions or requests may be sent to info@fabulmag.com