Photographing Scruff

Alex Girard Has An Eye For Scruff
'What someone does with their facial hair illustrates so much of their personality,' the photographer says.
From:  OUT

Earlier this year, Gabriel Gastelum popped up on our radar after photos he had taken of Parker Hurley sped around Tumblr and the rest of the Internet. Of course, he’s not the only photographer to benefit from the virility of a good shot. Alex Girard has come to our attention in a similar fashion. The San Francisco-based photographer’s shots of male models have been making their way around the web over the past few months—getting more and more attention with each new photo shoot.

“I think we all know that the photos are going to end up in the Tumblr-sphere where anything can happen,” Girard says. And that’s exactly what happened, but with good reason. Most of his models tend to be of the "scruff" variety—appealing to the current trend for men with body and facial hair.

“It’s pretty trendy right now, right?” Girard says of his choice in models. “But really, who doesn't love a good beard/mustache/chest hair combo?”

He also figured out what's so appealing about all that hair—at least from a photographer’s perspective. “For me, body hair goes back to my fixation on all things graphically interesting," he explains. "What someone does with their facial hair illustrates so much of their personality. The possibilities are endless, truly.”

Whatever the possibilities, the results are delicious, especially one shoot involving a strategically placed watermelon. Girard tells us the shoot was all Mike Ender’s idea, although he likes to think he was paying homage to Gallagher (and his famous watermelon-with-sledgehammer shtick).

How's that for some inspiration?

Adam

When asked what he likes to photograph, Girard tells OUT he likes to shoot people.

"My favorite, though, is people in nature," he adds.