Chris Nelson

He was an awesome microscopist who understood advanced electron microscopes like a test pilot understands a jet plane." Many international researchers appreciated Nelson's eye for detail and often requested to work with him given his reputation and skill level. Together with his then partner, magazine publisher Richard Bulger, Nelson developed a characteristic "look", first in black-and-white portraits of men in San Francisco's biker and leather community, and then, as the bear community grew, in black-and-white erotic portraits of a great number of men who submitted themselves to the magazine as amateur models. He later independently galvanized the gay bear identity, which evolved over the years into a multitude of bear clubs and related social groups worldwide. "Chris brought about a whole new gay subculture that allowed bigger, bearded, and hairy gay men to be celebrated. Before that, the emphasis was on the lean, leather jacket and t-shirt wearing 'Castro clones' that dominated the San Francisco scene. Now there was room for everyone, even the more forwardly masculine, non-svelte." Nelson's photography was the sole subject of a 1991 book The Bear Cult: Photographs by Chris Nelson At 46, he died of a heart attack in the San Francisco Bay Area on December 7, 2006. Nelson's book and photography are discussed by author Jack Fritscher in Bears on Bears: Interviews & Discussions, Ron Suresha's 2002 nonfiction book on the bear community. Fritscher also comments on Nelson's work in the introduction to The Bear Book 2, edited by Les K.

• Name — Chris Nelson • Birth Name — Edmund Christian Nelson • Born — 1960 • Place of death — San Francisco Bay Area • Known for — Co-founder of Bear Magazine • Occupation — Photographer