Photographer Joe Oppedisano was born in upstate New York in 1967 to a very close knit Italian family. Raised as a Roman Catholic, the ideas in his head never quite matched what he was taught.

He knew he was gay at a very young age (five to be exact) and when he was told by his priest that anyone who commits a sin, murder, adultery, rape, would go to heaven if they confessed, except homosexuals, knew that his beliefs were shattered.

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He spent the rest of his youth trying to sort out why he was so bad in the eye of the church, but when he moved to New York City in 1985 to study fashion at the Fashion Institute of Technology, he decided he didn't really care, and to live his life in the way he thought most appropriate. He put himself through school by becoming a stripper at what was once the Eros Theater on Eighth Avenue, and would walk home with bills stuffed in his jockstrap. These would be his most formative years in his gay experience...New York was booming and he was out overnight at the likes of Boybar, the Saint, Palladium, Area and Sound Factory. This is where he felt at home.

When his schooling was finished, he started an intern at Esquire magazine where he landed a job as the assistant to famous fashion director Robert Bryan at Fairchild Publications. He worked as a fashion editor for W, Vanity Fair, L'Uomo Vogue and countless other publications, as well as dressing celebrities such as Ricky Martin, Carol King and Regis Phillbin before having a pre-mid-life crisis at thirty, where he decided he couldn't possibly dress another model.

Never taking a class in photography, he bought a Mamiya 645 and taught himself the techniques of lighting, composition and working with the models to get what he wanted across onto film. His influences are obvious, Tom of Finland, Jim French, Avedon, Mapplethorpe and Helmut Newton. Sleek, sexual, sensual. All the terms he uses to describe his own work, all a culmination of the people who's work he admires most. He spent two years working with Arthur Elgort, creating many memorable images of men for L’Uomo Vogue, Brioni and American Vogue.

A retrospective of his career as a men’s photographer is pulled together in his book “Testosterone”, which combines Abercrombie & Fitch models with real blue collar men in dark boiler room brawls, mud fights and extensively tattoed men in formal portraits. Amazon.com has already called it an “instant classic” in homo erotica, and Rizzoli bookstore on fifty seventh street will be the home of the official book signing launch.

Needless to say, Joe is a very happy man.
He lives and works in New York City.

And some questions for Joe from Edward Carl

Edward: Do you think that digital era really helped the photographers concerning aspects like quality and technology? In your opinion what were the most remarkable achievements in photography in the last decade?

Joe: I like digital, but if I could, I'd always shoot film. Digital is great for the speed in which a job can get turned around, but film is still more beautiful quality. But digital is definitely the best thing  that has happened to revolutionize photography, as it makes it more accessible  to everyone.

Edward: What do you look most when selecting models to shoot?

Joe: Body, most definitely, but I need a guy or girl with no attitude who is Just up for doing anything fun to make the photo as special as possible. No inhibitions is also a plus.

Edward: What advice would you give to models and to the aspiring  ones?

Joe: work out, sleep, take care of yourself...this is a business, and should be treated as so.

Edward: You seem to have helped a number of models with their  careers. What do you really feel about that?

Joe: I love it. They have helped me too, when people see them and associate them  with me, it makes me look good too! Joe Sayers is a perfect example, we are good  friends, but his career and mine have blossomed because of our relationship.  People e-mail and call me about him constantly!

Edward:  There must be special moments when you feel that you have captured a perfect picture... Share this passion with us. How does this special moment happen?

Joe:  Hmmm, well, it's a gut instinct. I shoot and shoot until I feel I have the shot, and then pray until I go home and edit that I actually did. It's a great  feeling, and when the final photo comes out and people love it, it's even better.

Edward:  If you could select 5 fantastic places around the world for  a shooting, which ones you´d choose and why?

Joe:  New York, offers so much diversity from glam to filthy, I love LA because you get such amazing costumes and locations from beach to city, and the movie sets, Oregon, just incredible, Death Valley, is just unreal and spooky but  gorgeous, and southern Italy, where my family is from, is unbelievable,  mountains to beautiful ocean...

Edward:  How was 2006 for you and what are your expectations for  2007?

Joe:   2006 was  amazing, and I am nervous about living up to it in 2007.

Edward:  If a model wants to work with you, how do they get in  touch?

Joe:   E-mail me with some photos, I am always looking for people, and love to get messages from people who really want to do it and especially people who have  never done it before, but want to...they give you a quality that is sometimes extremely unexpected...

Edward:  Joe, thanks so much for sharing your story with us. Leave a  message to Connex247 readers around the world.

Joe: Thank you, honestly, from the bottom of my heart. I never, ever dreamed this would take off the way it did, and it's all because of the people who believe in me and make me push myself to go even further! Also, if you have a  dream, go for it, life is short, enjoy it!

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http://www.joeoppedisano.com