Unafraid to be different, Denys defies convention and stays on top

"Imagine," says Denys Defrancesco, "that my first published photo set came out in Mayfair in 1981. My second publication was in 1984. Just picture how hard those early years in between must have been!"

 It takes a special kind of courage to be a starving aesthete dedicated to the popular yet disreputable art of photographing naked women. "It takes a true dedication to the beautiful - and not a false one," says Denys.

 Second-rate nude photographers are not quite so highly thought of in society as second-rate poets, even though it takes as much practice to become first-rate," muses Denys. It's not the kind of art that a person might choose just for applause or recognition - that's one reason that it takes real stubbornness to survive at it.

 Nonetheless, all those tenacious years in Paris as a starving artist have paid off for Defrancesco. He is now recognized as one of the greatest living talents in nude photography. His secret, besides one of the greatest compositional eyes in photography today, and an ability to move fast to compose the image that mustn't get away, is a creative drive that stands unrivalled in the adult photography industry.

 Denys' unique visual imagination is singularly suited to capturing women in their own beauty, rather than one which is plastered on, or poses in a superficial or hoakey setting. His style is characterized by his ability to light sumptuously yet naturally, and to bring out the natural in women in photographs that are at once realistic, natural and lively, and yet extremely sexy. None of that blur-photography, plastic-boob, bright color stuff for Denys: his work always reflects a scrupulous attention to detail that is never overstated, always close to the real, yet never anything less than consummately professional.

Denys Defrancesco's career favorites (click to enlarge)

 Sometimes it surprises us to hear that a lot of our American audiences feel like the babes that walk our blessed ground here in Eastern Europe are so impossibly gorgeous they could be from another planet. We know what you mean - even to us, sometimes the otherworldly splendor of it all can seem almost unreal. But, we can assure you, it's very real - and nobody knows that better than Denys Defrancesco, our own import to the land of the free, who thought he'd died and gone to heaven when he first set eyes on what Hungary had to offer babewise.

 That's why we thought we'd bring you some exclusive interviews with these two legendary creators about how they came to Hungary, and how they got to have the jobs that men all ov erhte world fantasize about. So, here's a glimpse behind the scenes at what it's like being Denys Defrancesco -- in our next issue we'll bring you a feature interview with Jules Bart. And yes, in future issues we promise to give you feature interviews with the models as well.

How did you become a nude photographer?

 "Well, I've always known what I wanted to do with my life. I knew from very early on that I wanted to take nude photos. It's taken courage and perseverance over the years to stand by that dream and make it happen. Not to be immodest, but it's also taken talent, and I think I'm good at what I do.

 I started my career as a nude photographer in France, quite a few years back. It was a lot of work getting myself established at the beginning. People used to say, "You want to be what?" But I was lucky: when I was just a budding young photographer, I had my first big break when I got a couple of series published in Penthouse France. Well, life looked bright for me then, and since then I've really never looked back!

 In those early years, I was doing mostly soft shoots for the magazines, and some pics for advertising campaigns. I had a lot of work, but I was still doing some work of my own on the side that wasn't for a contract. That eventually became my book. When I published Cars Girls in 1984, a special limited-edition hardback book of photos, it made quite a stir in France. It was really contoversial! I believe it's quite valuable if you can find a copy.

 I still do work for the printed media in the UK, the US, Japan, all over the world in fact. Actually, if you want to see some interesting magazine covers from my career, you can check out http://www.denysdefrancesco.com/ddf_01.htm. Now that I'm working in the Internet, and my work has become as popular as it is on the Web, I don't think I'll ever give up the magazine work. Those are my roots!

So how did you wind up settling in Budapest?

 "I used to travel a lot on photo shoots while I was working in France. You can never get too many interesting locations. In France I was working with a few Hungarian models, and so I knew some of what this country had to offer. Then, about sevean years ago, a Hungarian friend of mine brought me to visit Hungary, and I loved what I saw so much that I settled down immediately. Right then and there I moved everything to Hungary and set up shop. I've never regretted it! The models here are fabulous, and I love living in Hungary. Now that I have a studio in Prague too, I think there's no better place to be than in eastern Europe. You can see from the quality and the volume of the work I've done since I've been here that it was a really good move for me. The models here are just an inexhaustible resource, and sometimes I think, where would all that beauty be if I weren't here to take pictures of it?"

It sounds like it's been quite a trip! Do you have any advice for aspiring nude photographers out there?

"One piece of advice for anyone who wants to become a nude photographer: If you want to make it, you have to have confidence in yourself and a real commitment to your ambitions. You're going to have to face discouragement, and sometimes you'll have to hear the opinions of people who don't like what you do, just like any artist. But, if you have a statement to make with your photographs, then don't give up, and don't let yourself forget who you are and what you are about!"