I am a 50-year-old white, Jewish man who grew up in a decidedly white middle-class section of Philadelphia, who now lives in San Francisco with his partner of 29 years and whose career has nothing to do with photography. So how do I find myself publishing book after book of photographs of deliriously beautiful young men?  I often find myself asking that very same question.

My interest in photography dates back to when I was a child. Don't be shocked, but so does my interest in beautiful young men. Somehow, the two interests have always been connected. For as long as I can remember, whenever I saw a gorgeous boy, I dreamed of being able to capture his beauty in photographs. For so long, it was a dream that seemed far beyond my reach, a fantasy, a frustration.

It wasn't until 1991 that my fantasy became a reality. It happened when I met John and Gary, an attractive young couple in San Francisco who wanted to be photographed. You can read the gory details in my book THREE, but suffice it to say that my first session with them was a turning point in my life -- the point, in fact, when I turned from being a frustrated voyeur into being a photographer. Suddenly I realized that if I asked people to pose for me, I could bring all those pictures locked in my head into reality.

There was no stopping me. I gave my card to people at restaurants, street fairs, shopping malls, on the street -- anywhere I saw someone who interested me. I began to build a body of work and to develop my skills. I also began to understand what my photography was really about. The popular aesthetic when I started was all about bodies and sculpture. "Male nude photography" was the term of art most often used to describe my work. It never sat well with me. I wasn't photographing bodies; I was photographing people. I wanted my pictures to feel like a window into their soul.   I wanted viewers to feel connected with my models. My work is portraiture. It isn't about nudes or bodies or body parts.

As of today, I have published seven books of photographs, with more to come, and am represented by a terrific gallery in New York. Along the way there have been cards and calendars and magazine articles. It is still rather amazing to me that any of this has happened at all, but, clearly, none of this could have happened without the intervention of some wonderful people who cared about what I was doing and offered their help. People like John Wascisin, my first real model, who tirelessly championed my work, Doug Mitchell, the owner of Soho Gallery, who published my first cards and calendars, Kerry O'Quinn, one of my dearest friends, who encouraged me, opened his home to me and searched for models, Michael Taubenheim, a brilliant photo editor, who has helped shape and develop my books, Bruno Gmünder, a savvy publisher, who has created a meaningful channel for artists like me to publish their often forbidden works, John Wessel and Billy O'Connor, owners of the Wessel + O'Connor Gallery in New York, who have given credibility and stature to this art form and warmly welcomed my work, and Jeremy Ferguson, a more recent model and friend, who dragged me kicking and screaming into the 21st century with this web site. And then there is my partner Duane Waters, who has put up with me for 29 years, the last eleven of which were spent patiently waiting for me to finish lengthy photo shoots and late night sessions poring over proof sheets, with barely a moment of jealousy or doubt.

You can email at howard@howardroffman.com

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