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Colt Studio photographs
Coll2014-122
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Title: Colt Studio photographs
creator:
Colt Studio
creator:
French, Jim
Identifier/Call Number: Coll2014-122
Physical Description:
2.3 Linear Feet
9 binder boxes, 2308 photographic prints
Date (inclusive): 1970-2000
Abstract: Photographic prints produced by Colt Studio. Colt sold photosets, magazines, and a wide variety of branded merchandise through
the mail, 1970-2000.
Container: 1
Jim French is an American illustrator and photographer who created the male erotic photography studio Colt Studio, as well
as its two predecessors, Arion Studio and The Lger Studio. French was born on July 14, 1932, and quickly developed a taste
for the fine arts. He attended the Philadelphia Museum School of Art from 1950 to 1954 with an eye towards a career in fashion
illustration along the lines of J.C. Leyendecker. Following college, he enlisted in the Army, serving for two years and earning
an honorable discharge. With photography quickly taking the place of fashion illustration advertising, French became a freelance
advertising illustrator.
In his spare time, French began creating romantic homoerotic illustrations under the pseudonym Arion, largely in the period
from 1964-65. In early-1966, French's illustrations under the Arion name were first offered via mail order by Arion Studio,
based in New York City. It is unknown if this was a solo venture run by French or a precursor to The Lger Studio, but the
venture was short-lived, resulting in only one mailing. French's Arion drawings were also offered in 1966 via Ed Wild's Times
Square Studio.
In mid-1966, French was approached by an old Army friend Saul Stollman, who was aware of French's Arion drawings, to create
a physique studio, again operated out of New York City. The two went into business as The Lger Studio. For this business
venture, French adopted a new pseudonym Kurt Luger, and his new illustrations exhibited a more masculine aesthetic, featuring
cowboys, leathermen, wrestlers and other similar archetypes. Indeed, the name Lger, sans the superfluous umlaut that French
added as an artistic flourish, was selected to evoke the German pistol. The illustrations French produced in this time were
largely based on Polaroid reference photos he took of male nude models, and this led him to also venture into photography.
The Lger Studio quickly experienced success after being featured on the cover and in the pages of Kris Studios' Mars and
other physique magazines. French quickly became suspicious of Stollman's failure to handle the business end of the studio,
however, and hired his friend Lou Thomas on August 8, 1967 to look into the business side. By October 1967, Thomas was so
frustrated by the mess that he left Colt Studio, and within a month French and Stollman had agreed that Stollman should buy
out French and lead Lger forward on his own. Stollman would make a final buyout payment to French in February 1968, but carried
on briefly on his own, featuring at least one illustration photo set by himself and a few photographs and 8mm films created
by other substandard producers. No further reference to Lger is known beyond 1968.
On December 1, 1967, Jim French and Lou Thomas discussed starting their own studio together and on December 5, 1967, the pair
took out a business license to form Colt Studio. Like Lger, Colt Studio was named to evoke the image of a pistol, but very
quickly the studio morphed its Colt image into the model of a young stallion. For the Colt venture, French assumed the new
pseudonym Rip Colt, with the Rip portion of the name being inspired by the physique photographer Rip Searby. The first several
years of the studio saw Colt sticking to the model of releasing French's illustrations under the Rip Colt name, photo sets
featuring masculine male models, and eventually 8mm short films, magazines and calendars. For its first six years, Colt Studio
was based out of New York City, but French traveled so frequently to Southern California that he eventually relocated Colt
to Studio City, California in 1974. Concurrent with this change, French bought out Lou Thomas' share in the company, freeing
Thomas to branch out on his own and form Target Studios.
Colt Studio would eventually grow into one of the most successful gay erotic photography studios of its time. The company
was famed not only for its stable of male models, but for its long-running magazine brands which included Manpower, Colt Men,
Spurs, and Colt Studio Presents, as well as its calendars. Jim French continued to run the company until 2003, when former
Falcon Studios director John Rutherford and his business partner Tom Settle purchased the Colt name and rebranded the company
the Colt Studio Group. For a few years after his sale of the company, French continued to privately sell salon prints of his
photographs, but he has since settled into a quiet retirement. The Colt Studio Group continues to feature much of French's
work on their website, but the company's focus now is more on creating hardcore homoerotic video content.
Source: French, Jim.
Jim French Diaries. S.l.: Bruno Gmunder Verlag Gmbh, 2015. Print.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the ONE Archivist. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at USC Libraries as the owner of the physical
items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Immediate Source of Acquistion
Photographs aggregated from collections and donations to the archives.
[Page #, box binder #] Colt Studio Photographs, Coll2014-122, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University
of Southern California.
The collection was processed by Brad Bradley, Steve Fritch, Robert Graves, David Hensley, Christian Morales, and Michael C.
Oliveira, November 2014.
The collection consists of Colt Studio photographic prints.
The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.
Colt Studio, Studios and Distributors Marketing Materials Collection, Coll2012-170, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC
Libraries, University of Southern California.
The images are arranged chronologically.
The name of the publication, model/s, or motion picture preceed the numbering system utilized by Colt Studio.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Photographs
Photography of men
Gay erotic photography
Colt Studio
French, Jim