I never intended to be a photographer. I created Blue Blood because I wanted both to provide a venue for wonderful work of all sorts which would otherwise languish in obscurity and to inspire creative people to tap their own talents and create more work. The magazine always had writers and photographic subjects and illustrators who were all terrific. But I started publishing at a time before digital cameras were viable for print production and photographers in the community were few and far between. As the magazine’s editor, I was finding the people to photograph. They were almost never models at the time or at least would not have regarded themselves as such. They were my friends, people I met out at night, people who mailed their photos to the magazine wanting to strut their stuff in its glossy pages. I worried about setting these people I cared about up to shoot with photographers who wouldn’t necessary behave as nicely as I thought they should. Forrest, who was the magazine’s art director at the time, was not really enjoying all the post production he was having to do on photo layouts which didn’t entirely meet his design requirements. So we figured how hard could it be, when we knew what we wanted the pictures to be like. As it turned out, pretty hard, but we hugely enjoyed the new additional creative outlet.
Pretty soon, Forrest and I found we were shooting prolifically far more than we could publish in Blue Blood and we sometimes wanted to shoot subjects which did not fit Blue Blood’s couples-oriented format. The internet is a great way to reach one’s true audience without too many middlemen in the way, but magazines will always be my first love when it comes to media. Forrest’s and my list of magazine credits reflects this. I’m pretty sure it is longer than that of anyone else I know. An incomplete list of folks who have published our photographic work includes Alternative Press, Ascension, AVN, AVN Online, Barely Legal, Blue Blood, Burrn!, Celebrity Sleuth, Chic, Dirty, Draculina, Extreme Fetish, Fetish, Ghastly, Girlfriends, Gothic Beauty, Gothic Magazine, Juggernaut, Kaleidoscope, Leg World, Lollipop, Marquis, Metal Edge, Meltdown, Movement, MTV, New Grave, New Rave, On Our Backs, Orkus, Penthouse, Permission, Playboy, Secret, Skin Two, Sonic Seducer, $pread Magazine, SWAG Magazine, Taboo, Tattoo Savage, Women in Power, and Zillo. This includes dozens of magazine covers. We have photographed members of more than one hundred bands and shot dozens of clothing designers' lines.
We started out shooting medium format film, eventually moving to mostly 35mm largely because I like doing guerrilla shoots in naughty places and it was easier to run with a 35. We learned how to do our own color darkroom work because the photo labs always tried to change the colors on our prints to make our subjects look tan. This would make the walls look sort of burnt sienna, yet the photo printing professionals would attempt it anyway. We loved pale skin and, even when we worked with fantasy colors, it felt really nice to have artistic control over what those fantasy colors would be.
In a digital medium like the internet, it makes sense for us to incorporate digital photographic work now, but our experience with film still informs everything about Blue Blood. Very few sites make the extra effort to feature magazine quality photography, but, to me, having the highest possible quality of images is vitally important. I’m very proud of Blue Blood’s photography, not just because a lot of it is shot by yours truly and Forrest Black, but because I love being able to share the work of so many great talents with the world. –Amelia G, Los Angeles, November 2005

Kelly uses his long full name of Kelly Michael Charles Lind as a holdover from his days as a child actor, you know the kind of guy who gets invited to watch movies at Michael Jackson’s house. Kelly also did competitive figure skating and then was the face of Rollerblade as an inline skater extreme sports pinup and educator for many years. Kelly Lind and I first met when we were both exhibiting at BondCon the bondage convention in Las Vegas. At the time, he was only doing video, but he soon branched out into photography, creating funky lighting setups as he went. Kelly met the lovely and talented makeup artist Alex LaMarsh through the modern and unlikely medium of a personals ad on Nerve. Alex was in New York at the time, but she soon joined Kelly in Southern California and works on all of his shoots. Alex has also done makeup for yours truly and Forrest Black, not to mention other folks ranging from The Today Show and Dr. Phil to Varla Magazine and The LA Daily News. Kelly recently shot the cover of the current issue of Skin Two, but he is perhaps most talked about for his suspected masterminding of the Fetish Gossip scene trashtalk site. Kelly and Alex’s vivid colors are some of what I enjoy most about their work. That and they make fine dining companions. –Amelia G, Los Angeles, November 2005

I’m not sure when I first became aware of Chad Michael Ward. It feels like it was somehow an organic process. I think we maybe first made contact when he was editing an art site from San Francisco or some place like that and Forrest Black and I were shooting in Los Angeles, but it seems like maybe we just knew a lot of people in common. At any rate, I love Chad’s spooky combinations of photography and digital artistry and I’m so pleased to be able to bring his Sin Garden creations to a Blue Blood audience. Chad also occasionally contributes design work to the Blue Blood network. In many ways, Chad’s areas of expertise are the perfect fit for what Blue Blood is about. His clients range from Wizards of the Coast and White Wolf Games to Marilyn Manson and Relapse Records to ABC/Disney and Evil Angel porno. Chad says his main creative interests are erotica, horror, and fantasy art. Some of the magazines his work has appeared in include NME, Third Alternative, Pit, Dark Realms, Gallery, Skin Two, Tattoo Savage, Club International, Metal Hammer UK, Gothic Beauty, Marquis, Hustler, and Spectrum. I think of Spectrum more as a serial coffee table book. Which brings me to Chad’s four coffee table books Black Rust, Autopsyrotica, DevilEngine, and The Pain Box currently in progress. –Amelia G, Los Angeles, November 2005

I first met Carlos Batts a very very long time ago at a comic book convention in New York City. Blue Blood was exhibiting and Carlos was there to promote his work with Penthouse Comix. At the time, I believe he was just starting to shoot alternative fetish in the Baltimore area. Carlos’ magazine credits now also include Swindle, Vibe, Hustler, National Enquirer, Maxim, Urb, Leg World, Taboo, Fetish, and Extreme Fetish. He has worked with bands ranging from Danzig to Snoop Dog to The Distillers. In addition to participating in many anthologies, Carlos has become best known for his photography through the two huge coffee table tomes put out by his European publisher, Wild Skin and Crazy Sexy Hollywood. The work I first saw tended towards more of a unique style of erotically charged mixed media collage. Carlos’ newest book American Gothic showcases more of this side and comes complete with a stylishly creepy video with a similar feel. I’m so pleased to be able to bring Carlos Batts’ entire spooky catalog of erotica to a Blue Blood audience. Some small percentage of these photos have appeared in magazines and books, but sometimes it is really exciting to be able to see the artist’s entire series on an interesting subject and not just one lonely image. There is a certain raw truth to his erotic work which perhaps could only have been captured on film at one special moment in time when Carlos did it. –Amelia G, Los Angeles, November 2005

I actually published thousands of photos Ashley Fontenot shot before we ever met in person, even though we are practically neighbors. In real life, Ashley is either very subdued or in party animal mode and I don’t think there is any in between. She is genuinely excited by the women she photographs and I think that brings a little extra sexiness to what she shoots. Ashley says, “The main focus of my work is the female form. I absoslutely love girls, and get the most satisfaction shooting them.” Her magazine credits include Skin & Ink, Skin Two, AVN Online, Propaganda, Whiplash, Bite Me, and On Our Backs. –Amelia G, Los Angeles, November 2005