Pinups
Christopher Schulz, who can been seen buck naked this month in the 2012 BUTT Calendar, is the dedicated maker of sixteen-issues-strong 'Pinups' magazine. Each issue has featured a different (albeit mostly bearded and bellied-type) dude shot in a unique location. You can also take the whole thing apart and piece together a life-size poster of each hunk. The first issue was printed over four years ago in NYC, but these days Christopher works from a weird corner of L.A. — let's call it SoWeHo — a kind of no man's land just south of West Hollywood. He's getting a bit homesick.
Danny: You shot the latest ‘Pinups’ in Joshua Tree… Why Joshua Tree?
Christopher: I love the desert and I wanted to do an issue that connects with nature. I grew up in the Sonoran desert, but the Mojave Desert is different. Joshua Tree has those massive boulders that are really beautiful and strange. There’s a centerfold shot where Jeff’s ass is popping up among the boulders, where his ass becomes a boulder. It’s like, camouflaged.
Tell me more about Jeff.
He’s from Texas. He’s ginger, which is hard to tell from the black and white photos, and he has a ginger boyfriend named Geoff.
Ooh, Jeff and Geoff, a ginger duo…
We’re neighbors.
Did he come over to borrow a cup of sugar?
Something like that. We’re both new to L.A. and since he lives so close, he started borrowing cups of sugar pretty regularly.
Did you find yourself in the middle of a Jeff and Geoff sandwich?
Sad to say, no sandwich.
When you take the magazine apart and construct the poster, is Jeff then at actual size?
Not quite actual size…
I guess Jeff is a grower not a shower.
Yes, indeed. I really love growers…
Are you getting used to L.A. yet?
Not at all! It’s still so foreign to me. L.A. is a weird place.
There’s a lot of ‘industry people’, no?
Don’t get me started. I went home with a guy that produces TV shows. I asked him which ones, just to be polite, and he got real secretive. Like he didn’t want to tell me — as if he was working for the CIA.
Do you drive?
I am new to driving, I’m not a car person… I have a Honda Civic, and apparently that’s really unimpressive in L.A. You know, I’m planning on moving back to New York.
Is it that bad?
I actually like a lot of things about L.A, but it’s in need of a lot more industries to counter the Hollywood industry.
What do you miss about New York?
I miss the energy. And the smallness of the city meant that you’d see your friends very frequently.
If you happen to be in L.A. this Thursday, 20 September 2012, come say hi at the ‘Pinups’ issue 16 launch from 10 P.M. to 2 A.M. at Los Globos, 3040 West Sunset Boulevard. More about ‘Pinups’ here.