Joe Oppedisano Knocks ‘Em Out

Like the rest of his career, Oppedisano’s book happened by accident: the already-established photographer had been showing some shots to a publisher friend who suggested he collect them into a book. It sounds like a smooth transition, but Oppedisano described a few clashes with his publishers, Bruno Gmunder Verlag:

They wanted me to reshoot the entire book as nude and I had to convince them that the strength of the book was that the guys were not nude. …Also, the shot of Buck Angel they did not want, because they didn’t want to see a woman in there. I think it worked out. The Buck Angel picture at the end is the ultimate in testosterone.

Buck Angel, of course, is the trans man whose enlarged clitoris makes the boys go wild. Well, some of them, at least.

One can’t help but wonder what Oppedisano’s parents make of his career trajectory. His father did, after all, grow up in Italy and came to the States at age eighteen. When asked if his parents are “fans,” Oppedisano seems indecisive: “I guess.”

The elder Oppedisano’s do come to his shows, of course, and his father apparently enjoyed his son’s first collection. Or can at least understand where he’s coming from: “My parents came to the book signing and my mother said that my father looked through the book the next day and he came out and said, “You know, it’s really just like Playboy, but only for guys.” Oppedisano insists his work goes a bit beyond the legendary men’s magazine. And his next project, Testosterone 2, will go even further:

With Testosterone, people said, “Oh, there’s hardly any dick in it.” People wanted to see cock after cock after cock. So, with this one, I’m giving them cock – and more. It’s beyond porn. We’re trying to figure out if we can get these pictures published, they’re so over the top.

When asked to describe the images, Oppedisano spoke of gang bangs and excretions. Too bad he didn’t bring a film crew along for that juicy ride.