LOS ANGELES—Holly Randall hosted an invitation-only opening of her photography exhibition Saturday night at the Start Los Angeles gallery, celebrating the 25th year of her career and promoting the Kickstarter campaign for her new large-format photography book Dynasty. (photo gallery)
The small storefront gallery was filled with framed large-format prints, a little smaller than movie posters, presenting a showcase of Randall's work: many familiar faces and bodies, many nudes, some in color, some in black-and-white, some stylized, some natural, some indoors, some outdoors. Each picture was signed by Randall and labeled with a discreet sign naming the model and giving a price mostly in the $1500-$2000 range, with a very large portrait of Ivy Wolfe on a utility vehicle in the wilderness topping out at $7500.
"I wanted to put up pictures of people I knew were coming," Randall said.
Randall posed with her mother, legendary photographer Suze Randall, at the step-and-repeat backdrop just inside the door, amusedly smiling as Suze directed the photographers where to stand. Early arrival Seth Gamble chatted with Cherie DeVille in front of a picture of Masuimi Max.
"I am such a fan of Holly Randall," Ana Foxxx said. "Anything she does is on my playlist. It's nice to see her body of work displayed on walls, as art, instead of on social media. It brings it to life. You can see the details. How well she executes her craft. I'm honored to be here, I'm honored to be on the wall," indicating a picture of herself in white lingerie. "I'm happy to be here."... Suze walks past the pictures, sizing them up as she chats with Holly... Luna Star, Mark Spiegler, Celeste Star... publicist Brian Gross: "I've been busy. No sleep till February."... "It's amazing," Karla Lane said. "The selection is amazing. I like the selection of the different models and the different themes. It's a little of everything."
Misty Stone, looking at a picture of Leah Gotti on her knees, bending back: "She is fuckin' flexible, baby. I love seeing this as art. That's what it is, and that's what it should be presented as. I'm digging it."
"The fun part is watching people look at it," Gotti said. "I've seen the photos myself, but looking at other people, watching them smile and enjoy it, I think that's the most rewarding part."... Nicole Aniston, Vanessa Vega, Spencer Bradley... "It's surreal, seeing myself on the wall," Maddy May said. "It's not just something I did myself, it's something that Holly felt was worthy enough to be displayed with her name attached to it. Just like her mother, she's a fucking icon."... Holly works the crowd, the hostess making sure everybody has a drink, a seat, an introduction... Lacy Lennon, in an ice-blue backless dress, a Penthouse key glittering around her neck, chats with Misty Stone, in a practically identical dress in white... Holly hands out prototype copies of the Dynasty book to the models for them to sign... "I had sex with her!" one of the models says, looking at a picture. "Not on camera. In a hotel room in Miami with Joanna Angel!"
"I definitely had Holly's work," Bella Blu said. "I don’t know how I got it, maybe on MySpace. I had all these pinup pictures and I didn’t realize I've been a fan all this time. I wanted to look like those girls she took pictures of."... Charles Dera walks in, looking like Jack Horner from Boogie Nights... Suze kicks him as she walks by... Mike Quasar, Casey Calvert, Will Ryder, Hadley Haze. Aliya Brynn.. A director summons me outside, shows me a trailer for his top-secret production on the sidewalk. "I only show it to people on my phone" he confides, before telling me a promo push is planned to launch in a couple of weeks.
Holly poses with Quasar in front of the step-and-repeat, telling a photographer how to frame the shot for maximum impact. Like mother, like daughter... "It went great," Holly says as the evening winds down. "Better than I could have imagined. I'm always afraid to put these events on; I'm afraid people won’t show up, I don’t want to be the kid who has the birthday party nobody comes to. I've seen this stuff so many times over the years, it's not as exciting to me. When people come and see it with fresh eyes, they give me a different perspective on my work, which I'm grateful for. It was lovely to have all my favorite people from the industry come and see my work. Girls that I shot see their own image and be excited about seeing themselves in a book, framed on a wall. A part of me just wants to remind everyone that yes, we shoot porn, but we also shoot art. There's something very beautiful and artistic about a woman's body and I want women to feel beautiful and I want them to feel sexy and I want them to feel like pieces of art—and I hope that I was able to do that today."
The Dynasty exhibition will be open to the public from 3 to 7 p.m on Sunday. The Start Los Angeles gallery is located at 2270 Venice Boulevard.
Photo of Cherie DeVille, Holly Randall & Karla Lane by John Chennavasin
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