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The Urban Bear

Photo: Joe Oppedisano

Joe Oppedisano: Indecent Exposure

Wednesday, March 6th, 2013

By Chris Vaccaro

Fierce! Hot! Legendary! Joe Oppedisano’s photos are recognizable by their rough, tremendously hot models and their thematic, emblematic, and mythological mise-en-scenes. Like many, I’m viscerally turned on both erotically and intellectually by Joe’s compositions. I’m one of those guys who considers Spike TV a soft porn channel. I prefer my gyms to be one notch above sleazy. And primal masculinity loaded with aggression gets me horned up much faster than anything involving androgyny or even a metro sexuality (as hot as these are in the community in general). In the gay world of nasty pigs, rough gods, lumber jacks, burly bears and scruffy cubs, it takes a photographer with honesty, skill, and strength of heart to archive the decadent experiences and fantasies of this time. Joe is that photographer, and this explains the tremendous success of his books Testosterone and Uncensored. His latest collection, j/o, promises to be just as relevant. I’ve spent the past two years working on a series of ekphratic poems based on his photographs, so this opportunity to interview him was a definite turn on for me.
Hello, Joe. My first question for you is this: In your collections, you incorporate quotes from well-known authors and singers such as Kent Nerburn, Frank Pittman, James Baldwin, and Frank Sinatra. Why? 
Funny question. I am a music person. I can listen to a song three, maybe four times, and by the end of the fourth time, I know every word, every little gesture, high note, low note, etc., and I am religiously addicted to Youtube and love anything remixed. I find that I relate to certain songs at different points in my life that, even though they may not even be from the same era, speak the exact sentence that I am about to say. For example, when I did the book Uncensored, it was in retaliation to a bad situation I was in at the time. I had just gotten off from the success of Testosterone, and I was being hired by every porn studio there was, but they would hire me and then turn around and tell me how to shoot for them. It infuriated me. I never will understand why someone hires someone because they like their work, and then tells them how to do their job. So, my response was, “You booked me because you liked my work, so let me do what I do, MY WAY!” Which, of course, is a Frank Sinatra classic that I was raised on in the Italian-American home I’m from. In fact, if you didn’t know this already, I had “MY WAY” tattooed on my neck. I think that maybe if you can relate to my imagery, then you can get what I’m trying to say about who we are as a people and what we stand for, what we can stand for, what we should stand for, and basically, where we have come from, how it makes me feel, how I want you to try and feel… god, I’m rambling.
So someone like Sinatra is clearly an influence. Who else?
Tom of Finland, Helmut Newton, Caravaggio, Harry Bush, Irving Penn, Michael
Jackson, and Madonna. Not in that order.
Speaking of what our community should stand for, what message does your work send to today’s gay teenage boys?
Well, hmmmm, I guess I want them to have some kind of a history lesson as well as a feeling of empowerment. A lot of times I do Tom of Finland homages or references to classic art especially from the Renaissance, because I went to school in Florence for a semester for art history, and it’s my favorite period. I also like the boys to see what and where they came from, because what they have now, the feeling of being out and free, wasn’t always there. I write a blog that was originally meant to be a reference for gay kids who had no clue of their own past. I lived on Christopher Street for fifteen years, and kids would walk down the street and not know about Stonewall, Tom of Finland, Quentin Crisp, etc., all people and things that caused revolutions in our society that opened up doors for them to enjoy what they have now.
OK, I know you will answer this honestly. What is your policy regarding sex with your models? Has attraction or lust ever gotten in the way of your artistic creativity?
No. I don’t mix business with pleasure. I was a fashion editor for W, L’Uomo, Vogue, Vanity Fair, etc., and was trained by some of the best people in the fashion industry. The one thing I learned and pass on, very early, was that if you want someone to look amazing in a photo, then you make them feel amazing. I like guys, girls, anyone to come to the shoot rested, tanned, feeling gorgeous, mani-pedi, whatever it is that makes you feel like you are doing something special. If I started to grope them inappropriately, then the feeling of anything special is shot. They then feel used, taken advantage of, and then, they don’t have the gorgeous spirit that otherwise would be there. I think its gross to take advantage of models, and I think that the ones who do that are giving the serious photographers who need to worry about light, composition, wardrobe, make-up, etc., a bad name. So the answer is, NO.
For you what is the boundary between art and pornography, and where do you locate your work?
I have never thought that what I do is anything but art. It’s not as if Michelangelo or Leonardo didn’t do nudes, and, well, maybe not to the extent I have, but, it’s a different time. I am not a pornographer; porn is usually bad. I don’t ever watch it, and when I do, with my friends (ask anyone of them) all I do is bitch. “Who put black shoelaces on his sneakers?” “Who says that?” “Why didn’t he get that removed before he shot this film?” It’s awful!
But you clearly want to get the viewer off, right? Isn’t that an objective?
Maybe. Sometimes I want them to laugh, or gag, or even just recall one time that maybe the same kind of thing happened to them, or… I dunno. Believe it or not, because I shoot the kind of pictures I shoot, it has made me, honestly, not a very sexual person in real life. I mean, hell beotch! I can throw down with the best of the girls, I mean boys, whatever they are, but I have gotten so many of my intuitive responses to different situations, seen so many hot hung muscled, men (and women) that in the end of the day, when I am shooting, I really, honestly don’t go there in my head, sexually. I never once have jerked off thinking about or looking at one of my photos, cuz I have already been there, done that, and did it in the exact way I wanted it, visualized it, with the cast that I envisioned and the lighting perfect, the guys groomed, and the moment exactly how I would have it, or have had it be in the little twisted brain I have. It’s all visual, so, for me, yeah, I hope you get off on it, if that’s what you wanted to do, if that’s what gets you off, then, I’ve done my job right, but, its not what I am thinking as I’m shooting it.
A perfect example: there’s a photo that was just censored from my last book, j/o. It is censored because in Germany, where the book is published, you cannot show a person getting “fisted” in a photo. Now, the shot I did was of two guys, one on his back, legs spread, as the other gloved one is about to insert his fist into his buddy. It’s an insanely intense photo. I was showing it to a gallery owner in Palm Springs who said “wow!” and was enthralled by the intensity between them. “I love it,” he told me. I stopped, looked at it and realized the thing I love most about the photo is that the only thing in perfect focus is the hand in the foreground, and in the hand, the bottom is holding a tiny bottle of poppers! I like to do things that maybe the first, second, third, even fiftieth time, you don’t see, but then, one day, you look again, and realize you haven’t seen the whole picture.
Speaking of  j/o, did the loss of Erik Rhodes leave a permanent mark upon your work beyond this last book?
Wow. You got me crying. So, I was sitting with a friend, and I asked if he knew who Erik was. I Googled his name and a photo of him lying in the morgue actually came up. That’s fucked up! Anyway, yeah, definitely. He was like my baby brother. I loved him. He was a muse that was unlike others because he had such a troubled soul, but he was an amazing actor. I never read his blog until recently, and honestly, never knew that side of him. I knew he had problems, but who doesn’t. But he never showed me that side, and I am sorry that I didn’t see it before. He was a chameleon in a way. He could take on different perspectives and push them. He was always on time, always perfectly manicured, and always a pro. [Long pause]
So, in response, just so you know, on my blog, last summer, I wrote a post that I also attached to my Facebook account that went viral. In about thirty minutes, I had over 300 responses, three gay magazines copied and pasted it to show examples of gay bashing (How gays bash themselves, but not that I was bashing, that I was (thank God!) for once, the advocate. About a week after Erik died, I saw people write on Facebook the most hideous things about him. How he was a crack head, a steroid user, bla bla bla. So, I replied on my blog.
Your work contributes substantially to the iconography of modern gay male identity and sexuality? Are you comfortable with that?
Comfortable? I am thrilled! First of all, I never thought that I would ever be a photographer, so the weight that people put on what I do, how I do it, what it means or seems to suggest, I find incredible. But, also it is something that makes me know I’m doing the right thing. I consider myself more of a story teller. Every photo I take I do a ton of research on, figuring out not WHY say, piss is a fetish…, cuz what I find interesting is when I go onto websites under assumed names and profiles (OH MY GOD! I’M GIVING MY SECRET AWAY!), I like to chat with people about their experiences, what they get into, why something specific gets them crazy and how it started, and the funniest thing is…, like I was saying, it’s not that they’re into piss…, the guys I live for…, what I try to incorporate into my photos is the guy is pissing. OK. BUT! He’s also wearing red socks with sock garters! I just made that one up. It’s the details that get people crazy insane and boned up which I try to emulate! And one day some guy will flip through one of my books and see a guy pissing wearing a pair of red socks and sock garters, and he’ll either think back and question that crazy queen who kept drilling him and pushing him years back, OR, he will have an orgasm right there in the bookstore because there it is, his ultimate fetish in print for everyone to see, and maybe, just maybe, he isn’t as crazy as he thought he was for having that specifically detailed fetish.
What most dramatically influences your work?
The expression on people’s faces. There’s probably, maybe three photos I’ve ever shot where people are not giving you some kind of expression, either hate or screaming, or a “fuck you” or “suck my dick” or, whatever. I like to see people look interesting. I mean, let’s face it, I shoot some gorgeous men, but who cares. It’s not the fact that these guys are hot. Hot is a dime a dozen these days, but the guy is looking at you like he wants to fuck the hell outta you right then and there and THAT’S why its so hot!
How would you describe the scenes you construct?  Are they realistic sexual fantasies? Fantastical (wet) dreamscapes?
I am not a sexual deviant [laughs]. LIES! I am one twisted mutherfucker! Truth be told, I was an escort for years and years way back in the 20′s during prohibition [laughs], and the things I learned as a hooker were astounding. I always say, (Am I going to get in trouble for even saying this?) if you live in NYC, are cute, handsome, have a nice body and a big cock and you DON’T work as an escort, even for a little bit of time, then, your an idiot! Because some of the most amazing lessons I ever learned were by escorting. People are basically insane. The ones you think are gonna be into the most disgusting raunchy filthy things because they maybe appear average, not attractive, whatever are usually the best sex. The ones who work for fortune 500 companies have a ton of money and hire you, nine times outta ten are the most twisted people you ever meet, and want you to do things that you wouldn’t ever tell your grandchildren. BUT, I did them, ‘cuz I wanted to know WHY? HOW? REALLY?! You learn the ones that you should be paying will pay you because they are in the C.I.A. or, whatever. You learn about people, and that’s why my suggestion is that EVERYONE should be a hooker [laughs].
Oh my god, I’m gonna get shit for that!
Can you share with us one of your twisted fetish fantasies?
Fantasy, huh? Well, I want to have a normal life where I am content, working all the time, because it makes me psyched to have something to do 24/7, not to worry about money, and to be able to relax.
 So, my fantasy is to one morning wake up in a big bed with white cotton sheets with Buddy and Lulu, my dogs, on either side of me, roll over, open my eyes and see the guy I’ve always dreamed of, who, I have no clue what he looks like, his age, or anything specific, except, in my fantasy, he opens his eyes, looks at me, laughs, smiles, and kisses me. And maybe we fall back to sleep, and that’s enough.
 Now, the ultimate fantasy would ensure that he, after I close my eyes and maybe fall asleep, he gets up, cleans the house, cooks me an amazing breakfast, and somehow brings home a ton of cash. Oh! And the wildest, most twisted fantasy would be that he is hung like a horse with an incredible muscle-bubble ass and is 95% bottom… but, that’s maybe asking too much [laughs].
Wow, so romantic! Who knew?! So let me ask you why is there such a degree of violence or the threat of violence in your work?
Wanna know the truth? Ok, well, how many times can you show two people kissing without getting bored to tears? The answer is three [laughs]. I like to shoot really fast. Usually I’m done before the model even knows we have shot, and in some cases they think I am not into them. But it’s so much fun to just have guys wrestle around, act mean, and it makes the images interesting. I am not a violent person, in general (I’ll cut your throat if you fuck with me though). Kidding! But, I am really mild-mannered, but it makes my day go faster because people don’t expect when I ask them to do things like that, and then I am yelling at them trying to get a reaction, and they at first are confused but they get it immediately, and seconds later, done. I got the shot. It’s much easier to make someone look mean than to make him look pretty. I think.
And there’s something hot about the threat, right? Many get off on that too.
It’s always hot when you are dealing with the unknown. You never know what’s around the corner, with anything in life. So, I think that kind of situation is foreign to most, because very few people live spontaneously. So when the situation arises, your blood starts boiling, your stomach gets jittery, your pulse races, and the very thought that maybe you’re gonna get hit in the face, or MAYBE you’re gonna get some huge cock in your face… hmmm. You weigh the options and if you’re lucky, hell, you’re choking on cock all night! If not then, next time maybe. It’s one of the life experiences I got in being an escort. You never know who you’re going to meet. Could be a nightmare. Could be the love of your life. Ya never know. But if you don’t just dive in head first and see, you’ll never know. Life is not lived twice. It’s for us to jump in, get wet, enjoy, and sometimes even get a punch in the face. But, you feel it, you felt it, it hurt, and you experienced it head on.
So we talked about your past work. But what should we expect from you next?
Ugh! Who knows! I am looking for a new career actually. I was a fashion editor for twelve years, a photographer now for fifteen. What’s next? I think I want to make my pictures come to life. Film? Possibly. I have a few ideas, but, I am not a money person, which means, I don’t save two cents, and am a horrible businessman, so, if any of you bears with coins wanna do something to help the gay community get more intense/crazy porn/movies, whatever, you can send me a check, and I will be more than happy to finally put into production the movies I have in my head. One in particular that
is SOOOOOO twisted and funny and sick and intense and beautiful, that… well, you’ll have to just wait and see it!
Joe, it’s been a pleasure, man.
Thanks, Chris.

About Chris Vaccaro

Chris Vaccaro is a Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Vermont. He has published essays on pre-modern English poetry and on Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. His current project involves a collection of poems based on Montreal's sauna culture and a series of poems on Joe Oppedisano's photographs. Chris is also cofounder of Burly Bear Promotions which organizes parties for bears and cubs in Burlington. VT.

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fairytale beginning

 


http://www.blackpartyexpo.com/bpx-spunk-the-dirty-carnival/

Once upon a time, in a city far far away (somewhere in Jersey),

lived a beautiful princess,

named Joe,

who was at an intersection, 

somewhere near Bayonne,

and very, very confused.

she tossed her hair back,

pulled in her corset,

adjusted her heels,

fixed her lipstick,

making sure there was no crust 

in the corners of her lips,

and she straightened her back

as she lifted her nose in the air slightly,

took in a deep breathe of 

fresh Atlantic City air,

fixed the strap of her Forever 21 gown

(that she told everyone was Dolce & Gabbana)

http://www.dolcegabbana.com/ 

and sashayed her way to the bus,

where she would then catch the path

to then walk to a subway

to get to her sister

who would surely have good advice...

so, here she goes...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9YHwNYoJdg

his name was Rocco, he was a showgirl,

with yellow feathers in his hair

shirt unbuttoned down to there...

he would merengue, and do the cha-cha,

someday i knew he'd be a star

as i watched him tending bar...

@Sverxxx

u asking wtf?

yea, i know...

you'll know what i'm talkin bout.

soon.

thank u

Beyoncé - 
Love On Top

 you're the one i love,

you're the one i need,

 you're the only one i see...

so...here we are. 

             well...here i am.

at the start of the beginning of my new life as i struggle to forcefully shut and close the door on my existing one. nothing good comes easy, or, so they say, and this aint been easy. but, easy aint my speed either.

in general, on an average, i fuck up more than not...

but i'm still here.

i'm still(barely)standing (on crutches), but...

and i still looks good. (from very far away),

but...

and cumming tomorrow;

    "why's that guy so hard??"

                      introducing:

                                  Rocco Hard 

 

JUST SAY YES

It's just like i always say, if you are ever listening...you just never know, so, just in case, never say no to anything...

and that's not a sexually speaking either.

Well, maybe/kinda/sorta....

even if and or butt, it all makes no difference because the moral of the story remains the same even with various numbers of beginnings, middles or ends...and the only thing that  changes is exactly what the  outcome of the  final product is  as it is discovered, laid out and ends up

from every different person 

and what they have, what they expect, what they want and what they hope to have

or dream of will someday have in the future...

there are of course many different ways

 it could end,

but if you never let it begin

by just doing it, and not saying "no",

then, you just might never find out 

and never achieve the goal you set out for yourself...

so, fuck nancy reagan...

JUST SAY YES!

dedicated to the one i love...

SMILE- Michael Jackson

last night i got a call that changed my otherwise great mood, and that very instant i understood that everything i have, everything i need, is maybe not going to always be there...

BB called to say that Inkey, his beautiful dog who we had just, last week had an amazing day with, died in his arms...and when he told me, i felt a rush, for the last time i saw her, i went out of my way to make her feel beautiful, petting her, encouraging her and hugging and kissing her, as she smiled and wagged her tail. then i glanced over at my bed where Buddy, the love of my life and his girlfriend, my adopted daughter Lucy lay, and heartbroken at what i know will be the future, i laid in bed and hugged them, letting them know i loved them, as Lucy turned on her back and purred, and Buddy licked my face and dried my tears.

someday, not today, i will be less of a man, because the man who got me through the toughest time of my life, will maybe be gone, and honestly, as i passed out in the bed with them, i kept begging them to never leave me. when i woke up this morning, we were all cuddled up together, snuggled tight keeping warm, and protecting each other from the rest of the world.

so i smiled, as i cried again, and i am hoping and praying that that day is a long long time away.

what a twit!

funny life is....




funny how you can so easily go in and out of people's "favor", so quickly. one minute (when they need you) they love you, can't live without you...but then, (when they are done with you) they forget your name, or worse...say hideous things about you to friends, and/or...worse they TWITTER it...good Lord...what have we become??
there's a certain porn star i guess you caould call him, if you use the term very loosely, that once upon a time adored me, called and wanted t oshoot all the time...then we did a job together with about 50 other models, and he felt like i had stiffed him of his glory and/or fame somehow...and since then, he has been nothing but an evil cunt...to the extent that he has lately been twittering things about me and my old habits...whatever they used to be...they are all but forgotten, except by this certain starlette who thinks that saying evilness can bring him glory...or, something..but, from the things i've been seeing, how people are re-tweeting my reply to him, i guess he's just another has-been that people find as offensive as he actually is...

https://twitter.com/joeoppedisano 

hint-he's not a senior in high school any longer.

 

MILES AWAY

Madonna - Miles Away (new 2009 promo-video) Trendsetter aka Mark Holiday...

 

too much of no sound

uncomfortable silence can be so loud...

and i am hearing crickets

that echo, in the uncomfortable silent way

only they can make. a high pitched screeching noise that could also be mistaken for a symphony orchestra playing the dramatic piece that could accompany the last scene in a horror film where the main character is being chased into a long dark alley way that ends up being a dead end...years ago they loved me, and when i'm miles away, they say they still do, it's only when i'm up close and personal, that they don't remember my name, who i am, or, was, what i did, how it was, and, i hate to say it, but, up until a few days ago, thought it could again be...

                                           

           

it used to be the sound of the phone ringing unstoppably at all hours with people demanding my time, needing a minute or two, hoping for a second of time for my opinion that i never second guessed. now i am on guess number 14, let alone 2 or 3, and have no answers in any close sight...where did i go wrong? what was the final straw? why didn't i see it coming, and why isn't anyone giving me a second chance (again, on 14, forget about second or third ones). but it sounds like an accident that happened one minute ago...when everyone around turns, but after they've screamed, and then there is just silence because the devastation is so great...the smoke, still rising from the flames takes everyone's breath away, and there is the anticipation that when they get up close, the answers to what happened will be catastrophic, and then...after the silence, louder screams, and then sobbing for the loss of everything that is gone, what it could have maybe one day been, and what will never ever again, have the chance to be...

as the orchestra begins to play the final piece, the credits start to roll, and then the moment i've been waiting for for almost four years now...

"THE END" appears and then, fades away as the curtains close and the lights come on, and we can all go home, back to where everything is comfortable, warm, cozy, and great.

   ...shot off my phone in Bryant Park this afternoon, before my long journey, which became a nightmare, began...

My Way

Frank Sinatra - My Way (Beat Syndrome Remix)

at the end of the day,

when you look back and be happy for everything you accomplished,

or, pissed that you did nothing all day,

one thing you should always be content with is the fact that

whatever it is you did,

you did it and you did it your way.

if i had a shoot, then,

it was done with me giving 4,399,000% of myself, maybe more...

if i sat n picked my nose or surfed the computer or jacked off all day,

than, goddammit, i put everything i had into making sure that the load was shot,

the web was scrubbed n i found what i was looking for, or the snot that seemed oh so far up my nostril that it actually felt like it was in my brain when i finally got it out,

BUT, i got it out,

and in the end,

that's whats important.

 

a Madonna Gang Bang

Madonna 
Gang Bang Official Music Video

 

i've known her since what? 1982?

i know everything she's done, i've seen her in concert 6 times, i live for her. even when she was "madge" i thought she was just being retarded just cause she's human, right?
but maybe i don't really know her at all...i mean, she's a multi-level woman who always keeps you guessing...she always comes for you in ways you don't ever expect. she's always fierce, always cunty, always insanely pulled together...she hits trends that are way down deep in the underground and makes them internationally known...neon, lingerie as fashion, those rubber braelets, i mean, it's endless...where would we be without madonna?
i have to say, and i hate to say it...we'd be stuck still in the stone age, because absolutely no one comes close, and it's gonna be a long time before someone will even try to compare...
she's a legend.
she is, Madonna.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkTq1bYeoxc

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HunG0kQwWaw

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXgh2sQhW5k

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2Tx4qPyxjw

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_q8kNKchDw

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5cO0692Zw4 

NO EXIT

classic j/o

-NO EXIT

                       it's alarming sometimes when i stop and think of the hours i spend indecisively wondering, questioning, seeking and plotting the next move i will make for the next ten, maybe twelve years of my life...

i just can't sit still, as i toss and i turn, never knowing, always guessing never stopping only starting as i seek and i try,

 still, no answers in sight...

i'm stuck in a place with no escapes. no trap doors, no fire escapes.

 no exit, from nowhere, no angle, nothing but feelings of entrapment and uncertainty. what do i do next? what do i do now?

   who will be there to watch over me just in case, or...protect me when i fall?

it's never an easy answer. i can't sleep, so i play on the computer, Photoshop is my game of choice, and it makes perfectly good sense to me that if i play long n hard enough, 

maybe, one day, i'll win...

U BETTER WERQ!!!!

RuPaul - Supermodel (Goldenuff's Sticks & Stones Workout Remix)

sashay. shante...

that's right, u know who u r..

leather men who work out their "masculinity" in chaps n thigh high boots...ok?!

we as homos think that we throw on a leather vest or harness, and everyone's gonna think we is menz...

4real gurl!

ask urself...how many "str8" masc men actually wear a harness, chaps with their freshly douched out holes exposed, n aviator sunglasses at 3am?

yup, right, NONE!

so, as the month of march rolls around and the infamous Black Party takes it's place at the top of the "must be at" parties of the year, i have just one thing to say to all the men attending, and all the men who wish they could be there, but can't get away from their "wives"...

        "YOU BETTER WERQ!"

 here's some random images of leather drag i've shot over the last millennium...njoy!

http://www.saintatlarge.com/ 

http://www.blackpartyexpo.com/ 

http://theleatherman.com/ 

http://store.nastypig.com/ 

 inseamclothing.com

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIrkp_jVzok