To better discover the personality of Rick Day, I have added two interviews of the master which could be found on the net.
So let’s discover more masterpiece of Rick….
Rick Day: I think that people like what I shoot mainly for the subject matter… I live in N.Y.C and am very lucky to have the opportunity to work with these amazing guys.
How did you come to be a photographer?
Rick Day: I was at a bookstore and looked through a book by Bruce Weber, I had never heard of him before and was just awestruck at his images, I am still a huge fan of his. After seeing his book I bought a camera and started shooting anyone that would get in front of my camera.
Rick Day: I love Bryce. He is not only great in front of the camera but he is to me the epitome of manliness. And a great guy to boot. I have shot many men from South Africa and look forward to shooting many more. Hopefully one day I will actually shoot them in South Africa.
Rick Day: A lot of joking and laughing. I think that to make someone really comfortable you have to have a good sense of humor. I always feel that the eyes and body language are really what makes a person look at ease. And of course trust.
Rick Day: Thank you for actually bringing that up. I have been shooting for 18 years… and although I love shooting half naked men I also shoot a lot of magazines, catalogues, teen magazines, singers and kids.
Your new book is coming out soon, what was the inspiration behind it?
Rick Day: The new book is actually a follow up to my first book and second . This series of book, to me, showcases men’s athletic bodies in a very voyeuristic arena. The men are strong and almost command that you take notice of them.
Rick Day: I have been working on my next book “CASTINGS” as well as keeping myself always behind my camera shooting. I am looking forward to growing as an artist and as a photographer.
I have been shooting for about 19 years. I started in Atlanta then moved to Milan, Italy for about a year… then to NYC.
I read that you are a self-taught photographer. Is that true? If so, did you find difficulties in going that route?
Yes, I am a self taught photographer. I bought a camera after looking through a book by Bruce Weber. I was completely and utterly fascinated by his images and I am still a huge fan of his. He is brilliant.
I guess at the time, I wasn’t really looking at photography as a career, but I was shooting anyone that would get in front of my camera. I was not aware fully of the whole fashion business, and by the time I realized that most photographers are either school taught or have assisted other photographers, I was already shooting most of the working models in Atlanta. My chances of assisting a local photographer were bleak. I would recommend to any new photographers to at least assist other photographers. It may not be the most fun, but the learning curve would be much greater.
Back when I first started shooting, as I mentioned, I had picked up a book by Bruce Weber really by accident. After that, I really started looking at all of the books that were available to me at the local bookstores. I remember loving the beautiful effortless shots by Bruce. I loved loved loved the elegant lines of Herb Ritts. He really was amazing, but the person that influenced my body lighting the most was Victor Skrebneski. His use of lighting on men’s bodies was so beautiful.
Was there a breakthrough moment in your photography career or was it a progressive build?
Luckily for me, I have always been a busy photographer and I am a bit of a workaholic. As far as the type of popularity that I seem to have now, I would say started when I began shooting for Genre Magazine. I was also at the time beginning to shoot the original “Players” book. The book and the popularity of internet bloggers really catapulted my images in a way that I was not fully ready for. It was a bit overwhelming.
This is a hard question. I try not to plan my shoots in too much detail because I have found that my best pictures were organic in nature, not too planned. I would say that keeping my model comfortable and at ease is probably what I am thinking about the most.
How do you interact with your models to make them comfortable during the revealing photo shoots?
At this point, most of the models that I am shooting for a book are pretty aware of the images I have shot, so that takes the pressure out of explaining what I want to shoot. I will usually show them an image of what I have in mind, and then we take it from there. I usually try to have the models bring a bit of themselves out in the shoot as well.
The new book project? It is a follow up obviously to one of my others. It has been printed in a much larger format. This book, like its predecessor, is full of some of the most beautiful bodies in the world. Trust me. Without the hard work and diligence of the men that I shoot, these books would not live up to the hype. I have to pay respect to the men I shoot and thank them for allowing me to shoot them in this suggestive manner.
What is your favorite type of photography to shoot?
Weddings…. bah mitzvahs… and forensic crime scenes. I mean, do you really need to ask?
If you weren’t a photographer, what would you be doing?
Something awesome I am sure. I have never been someone that was bored or working a job that I did not like. Life is way too short.
Whichever one has the nicest budget. I love celebrities and always enjoy working with them, but I am not a starstruck photographer.
Rick Day is a famous fashion photographer who is really great in capturing the sex-appeal of the male models. He has a specific and unique way of making the models up, he knows how to enhance the strength of the muscled men bodies and give them the sexual appealing in an homo-erotic attitude.
“Rick Day’s opulent coffee-table books Players and Players Two both became instant bestsellers. At first glance, the photographs are all about sports, about immaculate and trained bodies in rugby wear, tight trunks or nothing at all. But Rick Day doesn’t just take pictures of masculine sex appeal. His work impresses with an almost corporeal tension. The interaction of straightforwardness and intimacy keeps us wondering: Who is the subject and who is the object? Rick Day’s photographs are perfectly staged. All Players is a 288-page collection of all new material .
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