Rick Day recently opened up to The Underwear Expert about his photography, shooting the male form, and his recent book, All Players.
The New York City based photographer, whose impeccable work has been seen in magazines Elle, Details, Teen Vogue and GQ as well as campaigns for GAP, Ritani, C-in2 and Rufskin, released All Players in October. The book is a compilation of his former two image collections titled Players and Players 2 with all new photographs.
According to an All Players press release, "Rick day [succeeds] in creating a world of images in which the trained bodies of hunks in rough rugby outfits, tight shorts (or simply naked as God intended) exude much more than simply masculine sex appeal." The book lends itself to "the interplay of the straightforward and the intimate and its palpable excitement."
"All Players is the end of the series," Day told The Underwear Expert. "The publishing house Bruno Gmünder and I thought it would be a great way to end the series with an extra large sized book. I think it may be the biggest book they have published. So it's 1/3 of Players, 1/3 of Players 2 and 1/3 of new men."
The photographer, who recently directed a C-in2 underwear campaign featuring Daniel Garofali, credits Bruce Weber's images with projecting him into photography. "For me, I really learned a lot by looking at Skrebneski's images from the Chicago film fest series," he adds, "as well as Herb Ritts who was amazing with using the lines of the body. I also loved Greg Gorman's use of lighting and body imagery." The photographer also has "a real fondness of the Tom of Finland series."
Day, whose photography covers a vast swatch of subjects, is perhaps best known for his male portraits, which comprise his latest release. When asked about his favorite part of a man's body to photograph, he states, "I like beautiful armpits and really nice asses but my favorite part is not really muscular in nature. I just love a sexy hair pattern. You have probably noticed that most of the guys I shoot have beards or stubble and rarely if ever do I want to shoot a guy that shaves his pubic area. I really like a man to look like a man. Being ripped is also nice."
For the complete interview and exclusive photo gallery, visit The Underwear Expert.
All Players (limited edition) was published by Bruno Gmünder and released in October 2012. It is 288 pages, full cover, and presented in hard cover with dust jacket. It retails for $174.99. ISBN: 978-3-86787-420-5.