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The name Jim French may not be known to every gay man, but most of them will know (and love?) what he created. Back in 1967 when nudity was still considered obscene French took on the name Rip Colt and founded the legendary COLT Studio.
Nat Gozzano, COLT Studio’s archivist and art director since 1997, notes, “As opposed to the early male pin-ups that were for gay audiences, but still masquerading as muscle magazines and athletic training magazines, Jim was more directly tailoring his images to the taste of gay audiences. His composition was so strong and from life drawing classes, he really knew how to pose models with strong tension.“
Over the next five decades photographer, filmmaker, and publisher French single-handedly elevated male erotica to a place of honor within the pantheon of art – and is doing so made COLT Studio, the most successful male physique photography company in the US.
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Speaking to AnOther from his home in Palm Springs, French’s husband, Jeffery Turner, reveals more about his approach to art. “Jimmy did not think of his work as pornography. He thought of it as physique art or art of the male human figure. The male nude is an erotic image, while the female nude is considered an artistic image but that is a new idea. We have always considered the male nude a high subject for art. That everyone today sees it as pornography is unfortunate. We’re still afraid of the penis. The most powerful image maybe in Western society is still powerful – and it is shocking.”
French had an innate ability to cater to the times and responded to the demand for high-quality erotica through a variety of mediums including photography, films, books, magazines, and calendars. n in their bodies – and that set him apart from other people right away.
