Last week my new friend, Shaun Haines and I went on a little adventure. I had to stop off at Off Ramp Leathers for the new chaps and the final fitting. I asked him if he wanted to come along and take some pics. Shaun has a small side business shooting pics (come4play.com/photography.html) and has taken hundreds of shots of me, so I thought I would return the favor with my new camera. When we arrived to Off Ramp we saw a note pinned to the door, that indicated Paul Johnson, leather craft master, had stepped out for a bit and would be back shortly. We decided to head off for a cocktail. It was too early for Power House to be open, so we went to the notorious Hole in the Wall. We settled in with our beverages and pulled out our…cameras. We had fun playing with ISOs noticing how much light a high ISO would show in a picture, but then you compromised sharpness and clarity. Sometimes we just liked an accidental effect that had been created by fiddling with some of the buttons. Shaun is as big a ham as I am on Face Book. He’s on there just as much as I and loves to pose in front of the camera. We filled the bar with flashes and clicks and clowned in front of the camera. No one seemed to mind. The crowd at the bar looked like the typical clientele of a Hole in The Wall. They sported long flowing beards and besotted expressions which gave me the feeling that they rarely were away from the bar. After a picture taking and mugging frenzy, we settled into our drinks and Shaun eyed the pool table…”Great light under the pool table, huh?” He asked softly… I murmured in agreement. “What underwear are you wearing?” he asked me. I unzipped and modeled the red and black Nasty Pig Jockstrap that I had inherited from BearFilms porn-star Patrick Montana. (He’s a neighbor and it was his donation to The Bay Area Cub 2010.) There is irony that I am wearing something called “Nasty Pig” because most times I am Vanilla. Shaun paused and said, “Go on…get on the table.” I knew he wanted me to sprawl on the pool table in the jock strap so he could snap away some pics. My heart rate increased a touch-ok more than a touch. This is probably how the weirdos in the movie Crash felt as they wandered around a horrific ten car pile up on the interstate while posing around the mutilated people and cars and snapping pics….well maybe not, but still it was oddly titillating. I looked over at the bar crowd and decided that I didn’t want to make their afternoon THAT interesting. Images of The Accused flitted through my mind and not fun images either. I suggested we head off to the bathroom and we commenced our Guerrilla modeling session in the bathroom.
Patrons kept trying to use the facility only to find either Shaun or I posing in lewd suggestive ways. It was fun – eventually I picked me up my chaps back at the Off Ramp and then we popped over to The Power House. I knew no one would bat an eyelash at me strutting around there in a jock strap. I completed the look in some black boots and a very tight Power House tank top. The Bar was sparsely populated at that hour but a few patrons turned around as I climbed on to the pool table. Next I had Shaun pose in the stairwell as if he was being interrupted in a moment of private enjoyment. I think his underwear had a pig on it too. Funny! We didn’t even plan that. The pics that came out would be a great advertisement for ” So you think you got fur?” In case you didn’t know, that’s the name of my contest I am having at The Power House on Nov 12. The winners will go on to perform in my Bearlesque show. All proceeds will go to The Lemonade Fund which is an organization that provides assistance for critically ill theater workers. We were undaunted and dashed off to the Lone Star for more pics. Jose, the Bartender at PH called out to us as we left and let us know we welcome to come back and pose and shoot anytime. A couple patrons nodded in agreement enthusiastically. The Lone Star is doing a big celebration this weekend since it is their big anniversary and Steve and the Crew want to introduce the new management. Well I had to come up with a cute picture for the occasion so we braved the chilly oncoming fog and stripped to our undergear and hopped up on stage to pose with the Lone Star Saloon sign! The tiny handful of on lookers wore bemused expressions but declined to participate in our shoot. I had a blast with Shaun and we plan to descend in the Castro to do something similar one afternoon. I wasn’t always this brazen though. It was not so long ago that I just felt fat and fugly 24/7.
It’s no secret that I have slowly extricated myself from semi-professional theater (not entirely) to become a (ahem) model… of sorts. I like it. I like it so much that I do it for free. After 5 years of doing it -it’s official. I am pretty damned good at it. The whole hobby kind of began as an accident. I needed some sexy pics to generate some online assignations and ultimately a partner. My Lando mentioned briefly that it would be nice if it brought in a little extra income now that I’ve snagged the prize I sought so diligently. It started back in 2004 when I met a man by the name of Bill McClaren who is indeed a very gifted photographer. He teaches it and has quite an established reputation. I have since worked with dozens of photographers with dramatically diverse experience levels, but Bill has always been the standard that I tried to adhere to. I met Bill when he replied to my Craig’s List ads for my request for some boudoir photos.
Needless to say, I was very nervous on our way to his studio. He picked me up graciously at the est Oakland Bart Station on a misty spring morning and my mind of course jumped to whether he was going to drug me and torture me and leave me to be an Oakland John Doe Cold Case. I eyed him and figured I could take him down if anything unseemly happened. He seemed slight and carried an air of dignified fragility. He had a soothing hypnotic voice which made it difficult to watch my guard, but I tried to stay focused. I was reviewing what Tyra Banks had advised her young ladies to do on America’s Next Top Model. I looked in the rear-view mirror and practiced smiling with my eyes. The shoot was very low key, very professional, and he practically taught me everything I use to this day that works well for me in a picture: Relaxing in front of the camera just pretending it was another person. Don’t shoot from below. Don’t lower my forehead. Turn my head but keep looking in to the camera. He allowed me to be silly and theatrical and ..sexy. I had fun. He made me feel as if he was barely there, but still whispering things to me, guiding me to tilt my head this way and let this or that thought cross my face:-fear, vulnerability-uncompromising. His voice was more in my head than my ear. It was handy that I was an actor. It was eerily similar to working with a really great director. I think a decent director kind of steps into the character on stage WITH the actor. I’ve always appreciated the director that took the journey with me as I created the character. It was gentle and extremely effective. The similarities for making great art and great love are fairly identical in my mind. There’s a connection between actor/director, or singer/accompanist. or photographer/model that cannot be fully described. It makes the creation of art truly satisfying. Luckily ..I have experienced all three. I noticed that a playwright friend of mine had recently hung out with Bill at one of his shoots, the playwright told me about it on Facebook. It led me to shoot a quick e-mail to Bill to let him know what a great time I had had on that shoot back in 04. He was my first.. I’ll never forget when we reviewed the pics after downloading them on to his computer and he brought up one where I was wearing some German made underwear – a one piece with all the buttons down the front unbuttoned with the exception of the last few. (Modesty was part of my thing back then.) It was such an incredible photo! My skin had picked up the color of the red/orange back ground giving me this dreamy surreal warm aura of sorts. Honestly? I did not know I could look like that. I was speechless. The pic was without a doubt …um shall we say wanton and provocative. Bill watched me gaze at the screen in stupefaction. “See?” he softly said, “that’s you P.A. ..You really look like that. Remember that.” So you all can blame him because from that day forward -I believed it! Of course…it helps if the lighting is right..and the outfit is sexy and …there is a good fluffer handy.
Warmly,
Mr. P.A. Cooley
Bay Area Cub 2010
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