'When I was in kindergarten, I remember crying when my teacher informed me that I, in fact, couldn’t be a dinosaur when I grew up. It was a pretty hard pill for baby me to swallow.'
Although his interests have varied a bit since wanting to be a dinosaur, there remains something mystical, almost primal in nature about model Austin Tacious. It might be the mutton chops, or maybe as Max Woltman noted, it stems from his eyes. There is an intelligence and wisdom exuding through those eyes, his body, and the poses and movements he makes.
With prehistoric creatures not in the cards, Austin turned to a more attainable pursuit, martial arts. He has been studying and practicing the discipline for close to 23 years. Although he had always dreamt at one day competing in the Olympics, as he has gotten older, Austin's urge to participate in competition has dwindled and instead it is performance that has taken over as a passion. In middle school, Austin was introduced to music and loved it. He stayed with it and was briefly a music major in college. Eventually he began to feel he simply didn’t have what it would take so began to pursued other fields of study. When he was about 15 years old, Austin was first exposed to Cirque du Soleil and was completely captivated from the get go. Although music may not have worked out, he still know that he wanted to perform. As time went out the desire never waned, instead only increased in its intensity. Austin decided that he wanted to actually audition for cirque, but wanted to expand his skill set before doing so.
'A friend of mine happened to know of some aerialists that practiced in one of the theaters at our university and introduced me. As soon as I left the ground I fell in love and never wanted to come back down. After practicing with them for a while they asked me to be part of a burlesque show and thought, “Hey, why not?” I wound up having a lot of fun and, later on, started my own all-male burlesque troupe.'
Being a performer most of his life, stepping in front of the camera was a natural step for Austin. Austin has known Albuquerque photographer Max Woltman for half of his live having been close friends with Max's sister for years. Austin says one of the greatest contributing factors to deciding to take it all off was insecurities about his body. Specifically, he wanted to take a step to combat and confront those insecurities and there was no one better to that with than someone not only skilled, but someone he trusted behind the camera. Although it worked out beautifully, Initially, being such good friends made things a little more nerve wracking.
'Abstractly I had thought of doing nude shoots before and thought that the photographer would be someone I have not met prior which would give a certain degree of anonymity and distance in a way. Max is unreasonably talented and very well may be the kindest person on the planet. I trust Max completely and has a way of making me feel totally comfortable, even when I am bent over backwards naked on a wooden barstool. I was in a safe environment, working with someone I trust, and... had a bit of wine. The results of the shoot were very well received when I finally posted them, which was a big relief for me!'
Austin Tacious
'Austin's eyes were the first thing I noticed about him. Thoughtful and focused, Austin possesses discipline, drive, and athleticism. In addition to being a model, he is also a skilled aerialist, dancer, and performance artist. Drawing inspiration from his wealth of knowledge about history and mythology, Austin always brings specific ideas to every photo shoot I have done with him. He is passionate and fearless and his desire to continually strive to be better inspires me to become a better photographer and artist.'
As far as body parts that garner attention, Austin agrees that hands down it would be his eyes that most people comment on. 'An ex of mine said that my eyes gave me a strange intensity and my gaze had a weight to it, almost like a lion or wolf. It was a pretty cool compliment to receive.' For Austin himself, it would be the musculature of his upper back. 'I just think it is one of the most interesting parts of my body to view.' For me, it was the entire package, Austin's incredible body of course but also that intensity within Austin's face and eyes. The intensity is strong, even fierce, but at the same time almost peaceful. I especially love how Max captured it within the shower shots with the water running down his face, certainly my favorites from this series. I also could not help but ask about the mutton chops as not many men call pull them off a well as Austin does. Although he was recently cast as Wolverine for an upcoming act, Austin has had the chops for the last couple of years.
Although maybe just a small thing their own, the chops seem to be a part of something bigger. Along with some of the other characteristic, Austin's eyes, the intensity mentioned, all help to make up that magical primeval quality that Austin so beautifully embodies within his life, his look, and most certainly his images.
