He began collaborating with Playgirl in the early 90s. Keefer is amongst the most prolific –and the most versatile– photographers of male nudes. We chatted with him about his 18-year-long journey with the glossy.
When did you get started with photography?
I was featured on the cover of Edge Magazine and an artist/photographer reached out to me. We became friends and he would come over to my house to take photos that he would then use to paint. I started suggesting different positions etc. and he handed me his camera. After seeing the photos we had taken, I was hooked! I bought a camera a few weeks later and started taking pictures. I fell in love with black and white and set up a dark room in my home. A couple weeks later I joined friends in Fire Island. I met 2 guys there and asked if I could take their photos. The warm light and shadows created amazing photos. I went back to Los Angeles and printed some of them. I was friends with the manager at the bar “Rage”. He suggested I do a show there. Little did I know that would launch my career? The editor of Blueboy magazine saw my work and asked if he could do a 4-page story featuring my work. I was delighted and obsessed with my new career. I started asking advice from everyone I knew and everyone was happy to help. I started shooting ads for different bars and parties. Edge would refer clients to me. I met many people and became friends with a lot of them. The Chanel Twins are still my friends today.
I met with 10% [a company specialized in softcore imagery] and they included 4 images of mine in the launch of their card line. I had one of their top selling posters of 2 guys in white underwear on a bed. They used my images on calendars, coffee mugs, t-shirts, and puzzles.
I was amazed that I was able to call myself a professional photographer in such a short time. At the height of my career, I worked for 17 nude magazines in 7 countries. I remember one month having over 100 pages on the newsstands.
Where does Playgirl fit in your artistic journey?
One friend of mine started working for The Advocate with Men Magazine and Freshmen Magazine. Of course, I wanted to do the same. I did my first shoot, met with the editor and he gave me suggestions on lighting. Knowing Doug Cloutier, because he had photographed me a few times, I asked him for advice. He said, ‘learn your lighting!!!’ I started experimenting, taking notes and spending many hours in the dark room. I took in another photo set and they accepted it. I was so excited and told Doug. He said Playgirl needed a “Boy/Girl Fantasy.” I told him I could do that! I asked two friends of mine. I borrowed an old car and we went to Lancaster. Playgirl took the set and suddenly that door was open for me. I started doing more of the boy/girl fantasies and the black & white photos for the readers’ forum. My first centerfold was my partner. Playgirl definitely helped launch my career! Everyone was so impressed that I was a photographer for Playgirl!
Any personal memories of the Editors and the Art Directors you worked with? Did they enforce strict editorial guidelines, or did they let you free to explore?
I loved working for Playgirl and would fly to New York and take my photos sets there. Every editor was different and wanted different things. Playgirl really helped me create my style. Each editor would give me a suggestion on what they were looking for, but I always pitched ideas of mine. I would plan a vacation and then fly in a model to get unique photo sets in places like like Mexico and Hawaii. I had a connection in Denver and I would fly there and do 4 or 5 photo shoots each time. Something about the Colorado boys was captivating for Playgirl.
You were indeed prolific but also very eclectic. Solo pictorials, boy/girl pictorials, indoors, outdoors… and very comfortable with each situation. How would you define your approach to eroticism and the male nude for Playgirl in particular?
I think I am the only photographer to shoot an entire issue, “The Big Issue”… I’ve worked for the magazine for over 18 years. I would think of it as fashion without clothing! I would always shoot my creative visions, knowing that the magazine wouldn’t publish some of them, but as an artist I was satisfied knowing I did the best I could. I would watch a model and see what was unique about him and then capture that! I would always say: “don’t try to take a photo, just be you!”
Of the many spreads you shot for the glossy over 18 years, which ones you remember the most? Any funny moments you care to share with our readers?
One photo shoot we did for Man-of-the-Year was in San Francisco. We crawled on top of the palace of the arts and took photos! Susan, the art director, took off, saying I’m not getting arrested! I always pushed the limit to get the best shots I could. Naked on roof tops off Sunset, parks… whatever I had to do. Don’t get greedy, grab 4, 5 photos and move on.
One of my trips to Mexico, I was with my partner, his mother and my mother. We were taking naked photos on the pyramids. Our moms were on watch for security! Suddenly I saw people coming to us, my mom ran over, grabbed the film and took off in the opposite direction. I quick threw a new film in the camera and took a few photos. When the officer asked for the film, I took it out of the camera and said ‘I’m so sorry.’
My mother appeared in the magazine at least 3 times. She and her friends were shopping in the background of a lingerie store on Hollywood Blvd. Another time I dressed her up as a French maid and she served champagne to a model for the Rich issue. A third time my father and mother were asking for autographs from a Hollywood star in her limo. As they left, she seduced her driver.
One of my favorite shoots was done at the Hawthorne airport. It was a cover with 3 guys and their layouts came out amazing with real planes and a helicopter.
I met so many models during those 18 years –they were all special and memorable is some way!
Sometime in the 00s you stopped using your name and adopted Studio 1435. Can you tell us why?
That’s when I started working for Disney & Nickelodeon. My address was 1435 so I used Studio 1435. I also used Satori Studios, DK J studios. I think I had a few more. Just to be safe with the studios and the celebrities, I had my partner start taking the photos and people thought I was his assistant.
Where is the male nude as a genre today? Who are the photographers who inspired you the most?
I’m really sad that no one cares about quality photos anymore. It’s a quick selfie to get online. We worked so hard to get the perfect photos and “capture a moment in time.” My inspirational photographers: Annie Leibovitz, George Hurrel, Richard Avedon, Man Ray, David LaChapelle
Thank you, Dean
