As part of a new *Respect-Us feature, we are interviewing nude/fetish models and photographers. If you would like to take part, send us a note Also, if you would like to join the club, please send us a note titled "join".

Interview with

Is there a story behind your dA username?

I suppose so. When I inherited Nakayama Studios in 1998 I wanted something to differentiate my work from my predecessors, so I looked for a descriptive that matched my art. I wanted something memorable and marketable. I launched a small website on Geocities.com called "Unique Nudes" and later launched UniqueNudes.com. When I signed up for deviantART it seemed only natural to keep the moniker.

What do you do?

I am a full time nude photographer. I quit my day job in 2004 to do art full time and haven't looked back since. Ironically, though, I miss having a "regular" job and so from time to time I consult for start-up companies that I have invested in.

What are your hobbies?

I do stunts in Hollywood part time, because I am an adrenaline junkie. I have appeared in several feature films and I also do bit acting on the side. I belong to a historical recreation group doing pirate festivals and stunt shows as well, and I collect (not surprisingly) antique cameras.

What music do you like?

I love big band and swing (Squirrel Nut Zippers, Stray Cats, etc) but I am also really big into the Metal scene (Seven7Dust, Guns N' Roses, HellYeah!) I love alternative/new wave music (I grew up on Oingo Boingo, Depeche Mode, New Order and so on) and I attend classical concerts whenever possible. From Mozart to Metallica, Classic Rock (Zepplin, the Doors, CCR) to Jazz & Blues (Etta James, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong) I have a huge collection of music. Except country-western, and gangsta-rap. I can't stand either one, except maybe a little old school NWA.

What are your best qualities?

I'm not sure I'm the best person to answer this question, but I would like to think that my biggest positive trait is my compassion. From stray kittens to stray friends, I can't turn down anyone in need. I also volunteer a lot, most recently for the Midnight Mission in Los Angeles, and also at the Nevada SPCA in Las Vegas.

What are your worst qualities?

My ego can get out of control sometimes; but really I do try to stay humble if I can. I just fail a lot at it. I also have very little willpower in certain situations.

Do you have any pets?

A Siamese cat (Unique Nudes, pronounced "You-Knee-Qwah Noo-Dess" in a bad French accent) that still lives at my house in CA, and I share my current house in Las Vegas with my roommates' 3 cats and a dog.

Where do you live? Tell us about the town/city that you live in.

I currently reside in Sin City, aka Lost Wages, etc: Las Vegas, NV. A city founded by gangsters so they could legally run gambling, prostitution and alcohol. What a town! Famous landmarks include just about every hotel, anyplace you've seen on CSI and my studio. (Just kidding about that last one. See what I mean by ego?)

What do you love most about where you live?

The Arts District is kicking, the nightlife is awesome and I can have any type of food I want delivered 24 hours a day. Thai or Cuban at 3am? No problem. There are tons of models, lots of galleries that are fighting to show my work (I'm booked up to a half a year in advance now for shows) and NO TAXES. This is important when you are self-employed and you make over six figures.

And what do you dislike about where you live?

The heat. My opening night at the Apparatus Gallery on July 6th, 2007 was the hottest day of the summer, and topped out at 122 degrees Fahrenheit. Our limo broke down from the heat and they had to send us another one that didn't have all of the A/C working. Wow! It's only super-hot a few months out of the year, though.

How did you find deviantART and how long have you been a member?

I found dA through a friend of mine, and originally started a membership in November of 2004 to watch the 2 or 3 people I knew. I already had a website but since it was password protected I decided to post "a few things" on dA and "see how it would go." Three years and over 1,000 deviations later, I'm hooked! I was one of the super-secret beta testers for dA ver 5.0, and you can almost always spot me at the Southern CA devMeets.

What is it about nude photography for you?

I got involved in nudes because my Mentor, Michael Nakayama, shot for men's magazines to make ends meet in the studio. I apprenticed to him (I imagine originally because I wanted to ogle naked women; I was 21) but almost immediately branched out into work that transcends the ordinary nude. My work never sold well to the magazines, but galleries were interested right away. I do it because I truly love to create art, and I believe the nude form is the most beautiful organic substance on Earth.

How did you get into it?

Michael was my best friend an mentor. We met when I was a police officer, I think, and bonded over our similar tastes in music, history and martial arts. We were partners in the original Nakayama Studios in Riverside, CA until he passed away suddenly of a heart attack at age 39.

What are your tools of the trade?

I am sponsored by Canon USA, and pretty much exclusively use their lenses and equipment. Currently I am shooting on a 400-D that was given to me to beta-test and I love it. I use a PC to process images on Adobe Photoshop CS3. For a complete listing of all of my cameras, lenses, studio lights and more be sure to check out my journal here on dA entitled "Equipment/Sponsored by Canon."

Tell us about your DD. What was your reaction?

Wow. I got my first (and as of this interview, only) Daily Deviation/Staff Pick in May of 2006 for my image "Urban Mermaid" with model *Gwendelin-Artanis . It was hugely popular right off the bat and *several* people sent me notes telling me they had recommended it for a DD. It was featured just a few days later (back on dA version 4.0 when DDs got a lot more visibility than they do now) and I was barraged with favs and comments for the next 24 hours. When the smoke cleared I had 10,000 new front page views and 96 new people watching me. In addition to the 15,000 views and 150 comments that Urban Mermaid got that day there was also a lot of "spill over" in to the rest of my gallery and many images received over 1,000 views that day. I was elated, and very grateful to all those involved.

Do you have a lot of interest from models wanting to be part of your work?

YES. I get e-mails and phone calls from all over the world, every day, from models that want to work with me. Recently a model took the bus from Dallas, TX to Las Vegas, NV (a 20 hour bus ride) just to work with me for a 2 hour shoot. I often take recommendations from friends and models for people that would work well for my art, and I have a profile up on the modeling network site ModelMayhem.com.

What are your top 5 favorites on deviantART?

(taken by my assistant Jenna of a music artist I'm promoting)
(taken at one of my photoshoots by a good friend, and is of one of my favorite models)
(a piece that was given a DD at my suggestion)
(a 2' by 3' oil painting done of one of my pieces) and
(another DD given at my suggestion.)

Show us 5 personal favorites from your own gallery. (5 from your own gallery)



Choose 3 artists who you admire on deviantART. (and tell us why you admire them!)

*HoiHoiSan Young Wang of NekoBox.org. He is an amazingly talented artist who has gifted me with several pieces of fan art in the past. As I can not even draw stick figures, so I am in awe of his ability to do what he does so well. To top it all off, he is a hell of a nice guy, too.

=groundlingchild Jenna Black of Nakayama Studios. My protogé Jenna is one of the best up and coming photographers that I have ever had the pleasure of working with. She has "the eye" but in addition she has the drive and ambition to make it as a professional artist.

*dmGremlin D.M. Gremlin of D.M. Gremlin Studios. Sadly the world lost a great photographer earlier this year when Gremlin passed away. Many of his images, though, can still be seen in the galleries of *Gwendelin-Artanis, ~greenbirdgirl, *quietchildae and others. I admire Gremlin's work very much, as he and I were kindred spirits when it came to lighting and posing. Also, he just saw things from such a different light than other photographers out there. If anyone else could be called "Unique Nudes" it would be him.

What other genres of photography interest you?

I love shooting big cats (Lions & Tigers, oh my!) but I really have a fascination with macro photography as well as infrared. I'm not practiced at either but they do fascinate me.

What do your friends and family think of your photography?

My friends from my past haven't quite grasped the implications of my celebrity status yet, and no matter how many international gallery showings I have or book signing tours I go on I'm still just that guy "who takes pictures of naked girls." My current group of friends and artists are very supportive. My parents (understandably) were a bit unnerved when they found out I shoot nudes, and I'm pretty sure my Mom wanted to disown me when I left the police department to pursue my passion full time. But once they attended my first solo showing and saw what I actually shot, and how much my fans respected what I do they were very supportive and haven't missed any of my big openings since.

What does RESPECT mean to you?

RESPECT (besides being a great song by Aretha Franklin) means a lot to me as a nude artist, especially because I focus on the non-erotic, non-sexual nude. I often get comments on my work from horny teenagers saying "Nice bewbs!" or "ur hott!" (when I am in fact, only passably good looking, and not in the photograph anyhow.) This is not respect. If you can't even take the time to read the artist's comments you're not welcome to comment on my work. Respect to me, as an artist, is to read what I have to say about each piece (and believe me, I always have at least a little blurb on each shot) and really take the time to explore the nuances. Try to figure out what the piece means to you, and make the interpretation your own. Respect means not telling the model you want to bang her, but rather that you admire her tone, posing, or overall poise. RESPECT is not saying anything in the comments section that you would not say out loud at a gallery showing with both the model and photographer present and standing within earshot.