Although Bruce Weber, 68, is married to Nan Bush, for four decades his primary subject has been the eroticizing of men's bodies and the sexualizing of male camaraderie. (One of his many books is a collaboration with Reynolds Price, Bear Pond
, capturing naked young men at play in the Adirondacks. A similar collection
of romps has text by William S Burroughs.) Weber's ubiquitous softcore campaigns for Abercrombie and Calvin Klein have, for better or worse, reshaped gay culture, then youth culture, then American culture. This has been true at least since 1982 when he got Brazilian pole vaulter Tom Hintnaus to wear only white briefs and recline against a white rock. That iconic ad and billboard in Times Square was named one of "ten photos that changed America," by the industry bible American Photographer. Weber's work is in the permanent collections of major museums and, beyond his handful of music videos, he's directed four feature films. His first, a boxing doc called Broken Noses, premiered at Cannes, and his second, Let's Get Lost, about Chet Baker, was nominated for an Oscar.
He really really likes twins. Four pairs after the jump.
Ten years ago he launched Weberbilt, a bathing suit and t-shirt company with the motto "eat, swim, sex, sleep," and three years ago he tried again with an underwear line marketed "for guys who don't
wear underwear." Last year he shot the entire Vanity Fair Hollywood portfolio. His recent books are a 448-page fashion study called
Blood Sweat and Tears
and the shorter, self-explanatory
Roberto Bolle: An Athlete in Tights
.
Meet the Carlsons, the Brewers, the Stenmarks, and los Hortonedas.
What with the long winters and all, the Minnesotan Carlsons are not shy here and here and here.
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