George Duroy, The Unexpurgated Freshmen Interview, 2000

Q: Where are you from, George, and what were your influences growing up that led you to photography?
Duroy: Iâ??m from what used to be Czechoslovakia and I am truly both Czech and Slovak: born in the Czech Republic but raised in Slovakia. Both of my parents were journalists. My father was quite a good photographer; he worked for some years as a photo-journalist but I showed no interest in photography when I was growing up.

Q: How did you get started in the erotic photography business?
Duroy: I didnâ??t start with family or travel photography, the first photographs I ever took were erotic ones. Shortly after the revolutions in Eastern Europe I studied at UCLAâ??s Film School. I realized how expensive it was and that I needed money for traveling back and forth from the U.S. to Europeâ??I always wanted to spend the summers in Europeâ??so I had to figure out how to make some money. The whole mood of the newly non-communist countries was very happy and relaxed, and it occurred to me that making erotic photography might be fun and there might be some money in it. In my home city of Bratislava I published an ad that said I was looking for male models for erotic photography. It was such a curiosity that when I walked into bars and restaurants I would find it pasted up on the walls and mirrors! At this time I had a telephone in my motherâ??s house andâ??poor lady!â??it rang non-stop.
Unfortunately, because I didnâ??t know anything about photography I screwed up many of the first shoots. I didnâ??t have the negatives developed immediately in Czechoslovakia; I waited and took them back to the United States where only then I found out what I did wrong and what I did right. Still, quite a few of these sets were acceptable and I sold them to Mavety Media Group who published them mostly in Playguy and Jock magazines. I only really took this work seriously after 1992 when I started to work with Freshmen, and the editor, Joachim Frederick, really loved my photographs. He encouraged me and in the following years gave me much more space in the magazine and used plenty of my pictures for my covers.

Q: How did Bel Ami come about?
Duroy: The name â?oBel Amiâ?? is the title of a French novel by Guy de Maupessant, and George Duroy, the name I use as a director, is the main characterâ??in the book itâ??s â?oGeorges,â?? using the French spelling. Heâ??s not really a likeable character! In belle A©poque France, â?obel amiâ?? was an expression for a kept male lover. A rich lady would have her â?obel ami.â?? He was not a prostitute; he was a full-time lover whom she would keep for one or two years because her wealthy husband, who was usually much older, couldnâ??t serve her needs. This situation was perfectly accepted by the husbands. At this point in time I canâ??t remember how it entered my head to use this name but I started to use â?oBel Amiâ?? as my photographic nom-de-plume in 1990 and registered the name as a company in late â?~93.

Q: Who were your first models?
Duroy: I photographed at least 20 boys from those who arrived within the first two weeks of publishing my ad. I really donâ??t remember who the first one I photographed was, but the first to be published by LPI [Liberation Publishing, Inc., at that time Freshmenâ??s parent company] was Ariel. His image was used in the advertising campaign to help sell Freshmen magazine when it became a monthly publication. Iâ??m still in touch with Ariel; heâ??s a well established businessman. He has a very successful advertising agency, and still looks fine.

Q: Did your video work evolve with your still work or later?
Duroy: I s