Roger Steffens / The Family Acid

"Richie Silverman! I shot this picture in January of 1979. Richie Silverman was an English teacher from Toledo, Ohio, who lived for many years in Tokyo, and taught at a university there. He was a collector of netsuke, which are these little tiny carvings that were used to tie the sash  on kimonos. Some of them are very erotic, and a lot them are just truly extraordinary little pieces. He had a world class collection. He moved back to the States in the late ‘70s and a few years back he donated his collection to the Toledo Art Museum where it is now on display. I had this photo in the first Family Acid book, and as people came by who were in the book I had them write little things about what they remember about those sessions. Richie died last year, and here’s what he wrote about the photo. 

‘This peaceful shot taken at my residence in Beverly Hills, 16 floors above Doheny Drive, only proves what great friendships are made from. I’m still trying to put sunbathing into the Olympics. The sunglasses have never been seen since. But they did allow me to cruze and sunbath all at once.’

Richie was gay and he died last year at the age of 87. He never got skin cancer, which is astonishing, because he was a world class tanning champion. He tanned every chance he got. He was a really delightful guy. He was a volunteer at night in the West Hollywood police station, which is pretty much a gay town. The mayor, the city council, are all pretty much gay people, so he wanted to work in the police station to have a gay attitude towards the people they were bringing it. He was a really beautiful guy." - Roger Steffens