This article first appeared in TheGayUK
It was a warm, sunny day in August when I am admitted to the
plush inner sanctum of the Groucho Club in Soho. I am here to interview Angus
Malcolm, the photographer and mastermind behind the incredibly successful
Warwick Rowing Club Naked Calendar, now in its fourth year. Waiting for me at a
table in the corner is Angus himself and an arrestingly beautiful young man, tall,
blond and blue eyed, who is introduced to me as Lawrence, one of the stars of
the coming year’s Naked Calendar from the Warwickshire Rowers. Unfortunately
not naked on this occasion, his well-nigh perfect physique is easily evident
beneath the simple blue jeans and white t-shirt that he is wearing.
Trying not to drool too obviously, I turn my attention to
Angus and ask him how the calendar came about and how he became involved.
“Well, I was actually a writer and producer in TV and film
and I used to work in the health and charity sector. In 2008 I felt like doing something
different. Having always had a keen interest in photography, I started
photographing men. I was approached by a guy on the website modelmayhem and
found out he was part of rowing team. At the shoot I asked him if the club had
ever thought of doing a charity calendar. As it turned out, he said that they
had been actually thinking very seriously about it, so our meeting was quite
serendipitous really. Initially the calendar was produced simply to fund the
club, but by Year 3 it had started making significant amounts of money, which
meant that we could start giving to charity. It was in year 2 that we started
targeting the gay market, which lead us in year 3 to make a film of the making
of the calendar. Our immediate concern at that time was how to stop it being
pirated, and making it a charity project was a way of guilt tripping people
into not pirating the film. So in the end the calendar raised funds for the
club, and the video was for charity. That’s about to change now though. Instead
of donating to other charities, we are in the process of creating our own.
Basically all the money now goes into a kitty, which we draw on for charitable
objects of this new programme which we are looking at called Sports Allies.
Essentially net profits will be spent on the club or on Sports Allies.”
Moving on to the
calendar itself, I mentioned the fact that the photos, particularly in the new
2014 edition, often seem to involve a lot of movement. Was it difficult keeping
the photos G rated?
Both men laughed loudly at this.
“It’s a fucking nightmare!” exclaimed Angus. “If you look at
the images in years one and two, you will find that all the photos are very
static. It’s really Calendar Girls with balls, if you like, but now we’re much
more adventurous and doing shots with lots of movement in them, which makes it
far more difficult, particularly if you are shooting more than one rower at a
time. I shoot 365 gigabytes of images and it can take ages to get that one
where nothing is seen. It’s often a case of doing the shot over and over again,
and directing them to lift a leg a little higher or something like that.”
I asked if some of the guys were any harder to hide than
others (well you would, wouldn’t you?).
“Bluntly, yes. And sometimes it really is a case of saying
to someone, just go and stand behind that hedge.”
The film is even more difficult and youtube banned one of
their videos, which is why they gave up on youtube altogether. As I’ve had
cause to mention before the US can be quite draconian about (particularly male)
nudity, and the Rowers have also had problems with their facebook page.
Paradoxically, though, they have had lots of interest from the US, where they find
it quirky that these guys are naked. Angus believes, and I agree with him, that
these large corporations, like youtube and facebook globally have too much
control and are imposing a mid-West culture on the rest of us.
However the American
market is huge and people actually flew in from Texas for the live shoot they
did last year, which again raised more money for their charitable causes.
The photos certainly have a great sense of fun about them; sexy,
but family friendly, and undoubtedly homoerotic. The guys look as if they are
enjoying themselves enormously, and all look completely unselfconscious about
being naked together. I asked Lawrence if this was actually the case.
Lawrence speaks with a quiet confidence that is very
attractive. “Oh yes. We all get on really well. When you train together as long
as we do, you do become close. You have to if you’re going to spend 8 hours in
a boat together in tight lycra. Getting naked is all part of the bonding
process.”
How was it getting your kit off for the first time?
“I had no qualms, but some of the newer guys did at first.
However after half an hour everyone is just fine. Angus is really good at
making people feel comfortable, and of course we shoot around the boat house so
we are also in a familiar environment. Not to mention that the calendar has
been going 4 years now, so the more experienced members make it easier for the
newer ones.”
I asked if there were any gay members on the team.
“Yes,” said Lawrence, “but it really isn’t an issue. Not in
the least. Certainly for me, I’m used to open showers. I went to a boys’
boarding school. Showering and getting naked with the other guys seems the most
natural thing in the world to me. And, incidentally, everyone in the team is
aware of the support we get from the gay community and we really appreciate
it.”
Angus cuts in, “We actually wanted to play on that
ambiguity. The boys are having fun. It’s not sexual fun. But it’s fun none the
less. Of course there is a homoerotic charge in a group of gorgeous athletes
being together naked. It’s there, and it
would be silly to ignore it.”
Last year the proceeds of the film went to the Ben Cohen StandUp
Foundation, and the club will continue to give to the Foundation till the end
of this year. I asked why the Ben Cohen Foundation, and had any of the team any
personal experience of being bullied.
Angus. “Not that anyone actually revealed, but they
immediately saw that Ben’s journey had been similar to theirs. That was the
reason why they chose to give money to his charity. It was a combination of
nudity and a stance around homophobia, and the guys felt they were making a
much more visceral commitment than perhaps even Ben himself. By being completely
naked, they were saying, “We don’t care who looks and who enjoys this and we
are making a stand and saying we support the gay community.” We had lots of
letters and many of the stories came in particular from older men, who wished
that something like this had been around when they were young and how much it
meant to them. And the guys in the team found that particularly moving.”
Lawrence. “I see it as very important that we straight guys
are seen to be standing up and supporting you. I’ve seen “gay” used quite
regularly in a pejorative sense – and that’s the most that I witnessed
personally, but I think it’s wrong. I’ve also read plenty of moving stories that
have been sent to us, one being from a guy in the police force who nearly lost
his job because of being gay and him telling us how much he appreciated what we
were doing,” and that seemed a good place to wind things up.
Having seen the
images in the new calendar, it certainly seems to me that each year improves on
the previous one. It’ll certainly be going on my wall next year.
For more information on the 2014 calendar and film, please
go to http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/warwick-rowing-naked-calendar/
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