Interview with nude photographer Richard Rasner (UniqueNudes)

Amanda Stevens: How would you define yourself as an artist? Because, from looking through your portfolio, you are not just a nude photographer.

Richard Rasner (UniqueNudes): While it is true that I photograph a few different things besides fine art (such as live music), I do define myself as a nude photographer, albeit not your standard one. I am proud of the fact that I shoot nudes, and that it is my main source of income, and I feel there is no shame nor reason to hide what I do or 'justify' it by doing other forms of art. That being said, though, I don't consider myself the same type of nude photographer as many others. I like to think what I do is very different.

A.S: You mentioned in your interview with Univers d' Artistes that your mentor, Michael Nakayama, wasn't much for creativity. Could you elaborate on what you mean by that?

R.R: Mike was a great photographer, and had a lot of technical skill. However, I'm not sure his passion was for art. He was a commercial photographer mostly, and his nudes were shot for a commercial audience. That is, the consumer of men's magazines such as Playboy, Hustler, etc.

A.S: What made you want to strive in a different direction? Creative passion, wanting to be different, artists you looked up to and respected, or a combination of these factors?

R.R: Honestly? I get bored easily. Doing what others had done before me was well, mundane. I wanted to create works of art that made people take a sharp intake of breath; to make them challenge their own ideas of nude art. Although there are many other creative artists that I now look up to, I was blissfully unaware of them at the time of my own artistic awakening.

A.S: Is there a project that while it was in its designing stages that you just wanted to drop? How did you end up working through it?
R.R: I actually have a project that has been on hold for 6 years, and I am just now ready to come back to it. There is no point in doing a project if your heart isn't in to it. It just takes time.

A.S: Would you mind going into more detail about this project? Is it sort of like James Cameron and his movie Avatar, which he said was in constant development since Titanic or has it been more stop and go?

R.R: Well, it started out as a collaboration, and then the other artist moved out of town. I didn't have the heart to complete it without him, and he just recently moved back to California and re-joined the Nakayama Studios team. So it's back on!

A.S: On the flip side, in hindsight, are there any projects you wish you didn't go through with?

R.R: Large-scale projects? Not really. But individual shoots? Absolutely. Sometimes I have done a shoot without a clear idea in mind, and they have turned out awesome. But many times without a focus the shoots fall flat. I've also done shoots when I'm tired or uninspired, because I felt I had to push myself or I had a limited window to work with a model or location. It's those shoots I look back on and wish I hadn't done.

A.S: As we both know, art is an all encompassing word. Besides photography, are there any other art mediums that you have dabbled in or would like to dabble in?

R.R: I do plaster bodycasts of nudes & faces, which is great fun, and I was a music major in college. I am also an actor and a stuntman in my spare time, and I *dabble* in film making. I would love to draw or paint, but I am not particularly good at it.

A.S: Is there anything you bring from your work as a photographer to these other mediums?

R.R: In film-making, absolutely. Not so much in the others. I do find my work as an art photographer does creep in to my non-artistic endeavors, such as photojournalism. I find myself trying to frame a shot to be more as aesthetically pleasing.

A.S: Is there anyone on dA you'd love to collaborate with? Actually, who have you collaborated with anyone dA before?

R.R: Not counting models, I have collaborated with several dA artists: Atmosphotography, JennaBlack, RevofRope, ThePharaoh, Moonstix, J2portraits, and quite a few others. As far as who I would love to work alongside but haven't yet, it's a short list about to get shorter: my friend ScottChurch (who wrote the forward to my 2009 book "Abandoned - The Relentless Passage of Time") and I have yet to officially work together, but we're teaching a class on Artistic Nude Photography in Las Vegas on August 22 of this year.

A.S: Has dA affected you as an artist?

R.R: More as a businessman. I find deviantART is a great tool on deciding which of my images to offer up as prints (using favorites and comments as a guide) and to put in my gallery shows, but I do not let it influence what I shoot in the first place. But I do have a great love for dA, and the great community that Angelo (Spyed) has built.

A.S: Which speaking of which, if you weren't doing art what would could you see yourself doing?

R.R: Wow, that's tough. I'd probably still be in law enforcement (I was a police officer for nearly 10 years), or in some other job where I help people. I like to give (a lot) and Nakayama Studios LLC (the parent company of Unique Nudes and all of our studios - I'm the CEO) actively does non-profit events and hands-on charity work (in addition to donating money) monthly, if not more often.

A.S: Seeing how you're on a world tour are you going to be following the 2010 World Cup at all? Got a particular team you are interested in?

R.R: I used to follow futball a lot (big fan of the German team, which is kind of like being a fan of the Yankees - you're guaranteed a win at least 5 out of every 10 years) but I don't have time to follow it anymore. My touring schedule is so tight that I'm often in the air more than I'm on the ground, and you don't get TV at 40,000 feet. This month alone (June) I'm home in CA only 6 days; the rest being taken up by Las Vegas, San Antonio, Ephrata,  Orlando.

A.S: So, after you wrap up this world tour of yours, what's next? Any top secret projects you want to hint at?

R.R: Well, I'm not entirely sure when I'm wrapping up my World Tour - I started it in late 2009 with a trip to China to set up Nakayama Studios Beijing, and then right in the middle I had to come home and take care of my ailing mother. (She's doing MUCH better now.) I'm back out on the road, and I'm officially scheduled touring through November of this year with a trip to Tel Aviv, Israel. However, I'm not sure I want to stop there. I've had invites to shoot in Halifax NS, Wales and several other places I'm still considering. So I may be on tour a while. Even after the tour officially wraps up I'll still be traveling quite a bit since I have now established Nakayama Studios all over the world. But I think I'll start back on a new book, and there is also a calendar in the works based on my "Dark Circus" series. As for the top secret stuff, yeah, there are some neat projects in the works, but the only hint you get is "they involve naked people."

To see Richard Rasner's work, go to his deviantART gallery here