Mad men!

Good evening, friends! Sitting down for a late night post […not sure how this one will go but it’s overdue]. Had a great day at @caffetto with @guthrie and @vermillionfox. A late night Steemit comic conversation of “what if’s” with @mada, and finally coming home during a rainy Minneapolis night to feedback from the Steemit Comic Trials announcement. Already, one incredible entry by Batman courtesy of @cryptlectibles. This is going to be hard to beat! Also, thank you so much to @steem-comic-con for making a gerenoud contribution to the reward pool for week one! I can’t wait to see what comes of this challenge.

Tonight, I’m posting the men that I’ve photographed over the years. I should preface this entire post by saying, I photograph whomever hires me, regardless of gender, weight, race or religion. It just so happens that I’m predominately hired by women. That doesn’t mean I haven’t had male clients, and although they’re a smaller piece of the pie, I really love photographing men.

One of the things I love about my job is creating a character or persona for the model I’m working with. Transforming them in to a villain, gangster or femme fatale from an old pulp crime novel or film. Much of my work, especially over the last five years, really captures that mid-century modern era of cinematic drama, and having a man to portray a Don Draper-esk “protagonist” […if you want to call them that] really creates a different mood than my femme fatale photography.

 

One interesting shoot that comes to mind is when I met Kaio Wilker, an incredible Brazilian model, in 2009. We first shot in Boston and I made a casual comment that he resembled James Dean. That evolved in to an entire project recreating classic James Dean photos. Still some of the best work of my career that’s been featured in style and fashion magazines from NYC to Brazil. I still consider Kaio one of my closest friends and plan to finally visit both him, his fiancé and @kellyjanderson in Seattle next year.

Other clients that’ve hired me for portraits are specifically looking for a Grand Theft Auto gangster character. Perhaps a club owner. It’s such a rewarding creative exercise to bring that character to life and considering how rarely men hire me, it’s a nice break from the routine.

Thanks for reading. I post daily, so for more photography, art, illustration and the stories behind the work, follow me here @kommienezuspadt!