Colby Keller, artist, actor, and honorary BEARD OF NEW YORK
New York - Colby Keller and I had a fun filled photo shoot in my studio last week.
We got started shooting on my "BEARDS OF NEW YORK pink" background. We wanted to do that since last year and I imagined Colby would look striking. I LOVE to be right.
Working with Colby is easy as it gets. He's always in a cheerful mood, always open to new ideas. He knows his body and knows how to offer it to the camera. But he also lets his personality surface, he's not scared to be vulnerable.
Most actors are amazing at flirting with the lens. While this is obviously a good thing, it can sometimes make it difficult to "get the real person" and portraits can look rehearsed, or even fake. This is definitely not Colby's problem.
He's big, bold, and blonde. It's like the human version of my little Bertie (that must be why they liked each other so much!).
If you know how I work, you know I like to give people the space and time to be themselves in front of my lens. I don't necessary hate directing (control freak!) but a portrait is not a fashion shoot.
With Colby Keller that's really not an issue. Put the lights on, talk about everything you're genuinely interested in, and the energy will start building up.
These above and below are some of my favorite shots. Half way through the afternoon (yep, I never shoot in the morning...zzz) the boy was hungry. I tapped into my Italian side and we went to the kitchen. I washed, peeled, chopped, grated, and whipped up an nice plate of pasta. Yes babe, fresh basil, garlic roasted potatoes on penne, sauté to perfection.
We ate our late lunch and went on talking, from childhood memories to relationship drama. A tea for Colby and double expresso for me, and we were energized and ready for a second round. Awesome.
More about Colby
Colby Keller is an American visual artist, blogger, and adult actor. Born October 18, 1980 in Michigan, Colby Keller was raised in Texas where he graduated from the University of Houston, with a bachelor's degree in Anthropology. In addition he is a graduate of The Maryland Institute College of Art, with a Master of Fine Arts (MFA), Visual and Performing Arts.
His career in adult film started in 2004 and he has amassed a large fan base with both his films and his long-standing blog, The Big Shoe Diaries. He has been nominated for a number of awards and in 2013, World of Wonder awarded him, the WOWie Award for Best Blog. Keller is nominated for 8 2015 Grabby Awards. Keller has also appeared in the short, Zolushka, a queer retelling of Cinderella and the popular series Capitol Hill both by the cult filmmaker Wes Hurley.
In 2013, Colby Keller collaborated with artist Cameron Stalheim on a project called Myth as Object, that resulted in a 2014 exhibit as Stalheim's MFA graduating thesis at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Keller's body was cast in silicone to create a thirty-foot long merman sculpture in his likeness.
In 2012, Keller appeared in a masquerade-themed music video for the song After Dark, by dance artists Undercover. And, in his 2013 music video for Cannibal, Natti Vogel enlisted Keller to play a hooded witch to his tempted Hansel in a recreation of Hansel & Gretel.
With $45,400 that was raised in a 2014 Indiegogo campaign, Colby Keller began shooting his own art/porn project, Colby Does America, a series of adult videos being filmed in every state across America as well as several provinces in Canada.
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