Impish Nudes of the Transgressive Filmmaker Richard Kern
28 april 2023 
6 min. read

Impish Nudes of the Transgressive Filmmaker Richard Kern

Richard Kern was born in 1954 in North Carolina and raised there in a small town called Roanake Rapids. His father was the editor and chief photogrpaher of the local paper so he played with cameras as a kid. He also had a perfect attendance record at Sunday school until he was age 15.

Drug Pathos

Kern started taking naked photos after getting off heroin in 1988. It was a cheap way to replace the drug pathos he was missing. He doesn't consider most of his photos erotic; he sees them as portraits of the kind of quirky cute girls he has liked all his life.

Shot by Kern

For him, a perfect model is one that fits into his realm, who is intelligent and willing to do whatever he asks for a photo. These days they email him.He has a show on Vice.com called Shot by Kern that somehow makes girls want to work with him.

richard kern Lucy in Bed

Fig.1. Lucy in Bed  (2003)

richard kern nude photography

Fig.2.

richard kern Sasha Grey

Fig.3. Sasha Grey (2009)

richard kern smoking nude on bed

Fig.4.

richard kern Crepúsculo

Fig.5. Crepúsculo (1993)

richard kern tied female

Fig.6.  Erin 

richard kern erotic

Fig.7. Still from an unreleased silent film by Kern

richard kern nude on toilet

Fig.8. A stripper Kern shot (1995)

Become a Premium member and check out the extended version of the article including more images and insights to Kern's provocative short film Fingered.

More of Kern's photographic work can be found on the artist's site

Click HERE for the modern-day Renaissance sensuality of the Spanish photographer Mariano Vargas

Sources: richardkern.com, twitter.com, vice.com, flickr.com, fusegallerynyc.com, The New Erotic Photography by Dian Hanson

About the author
Marijn is the founder of shungagallery.com. With more than 20 years of experience within the sensual and erotic art of shunga he is an authority in the genre. During this time he served many customers with complementing their art collection.
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