"Who Dat?" 1972
"Amber Lynn" 1972
"Vanessa Del Sol" 1990
"HELP!" 1992
"The Gang" 1994
"Photo Shoot" 1999
"Chelsea" 2002
"Sophia Lauren" 2002
I was born and raised in a dressing-room upstairs over a Strip Club. The only thing I had to play with was cast away G-strings and torpedo-lookin' things that went BZZZZZZZZZ.
When my 1st grade teacher, Miss Paddlebutt, took them away I had no other means of income. But she sure smiled a lot more. So I stole her camera, and I was off and running.
After I had shot all the 3rd graders, I heard there where bigger things ahead. I was determined to get to the older woman. Then it happened! "Stinky", an 8th grade cheerleader, poked a hole in the shower-room wall for me, and bingo, my career was launched.
Now the most popular guy in the locker room, I decided to really go to the top. I turned in all my soda bottles, sold 4 G-strings and a buzzy thing, and got enough to hire a hooker for a real shoot. When she turned around it scared the life out of me: she had hair!!! I said "omg." I decided, then and there, I would only shoot dancers. 'Cause if you can't see it, it may not be there.
One day, some years later, I saw a lady at a Kroger store, and found out that "How many cc's are you?", is not a good pick-up line. They looked real, but who could really tell with clothes on? After they cleaned all the muskmelon off of me I tried to apologize but she stormed off screaming - in Portuguese, I think.
About 3 years after, I was doing research in a dirty bookstore, when I heard a woman screaming from the magazine area: "I made the cover! I made the cover !!!". On approach she looked familiar. So I congratulated her and told her I was now shooting for "Cheri" magazine. She asked me if I wanted to cover her "Miss Nude World Pageant" and I said "OK, if you don't hit me with any more muskmelons." "Oh no," she said, "and they're still real."
The rest is history, and Rio has still never told me what she called me that day.
Actually my career started in 1979 when I did my first shoot for "High Society" magazine at Big Al's in Peoria, Illinois. Since then I have been fortunate to have shot many of the legends in the industry, including Amber Lynn, Hypatia Lee, Savannah, Christy Canyon, and so many others, including Jenna Jamison's very first shoot.
I have traveled all over the world shooting beautiful women, thanks to the very trusting people at "Cheri" magazine. But the most important part of all the shooting I have done is the wonderful people I have met. And that includes a very special woman that I met 20 years ago at the 1982 Miss Nude World Pageant. She and I spent 17 wonderful years together as a husband-and-wife team that many of you knew as "Bob and Dee Ferguson." She has now moved on to shoot for another magazine, ugh, but my career was helped a lot by her assistance and partnership.
Someday, when I retire, I would like to go back to see the places I've been. I've shot Jenna , Rocky Roads, and Brittany Andrews in Jamaica; Adara Micheals on a private island in the gulf; Jasmine St Clair on Malibu; Exotica on the north Pacific coast; Chanel Staxx in Vancouver; Darien Vain in the Atlantic; exciting models from all over Europe in the Mediterranean Sea; Nina Hartly and Anna Malle in Vegas; and Mercedes whenever and wherever I can. Oh Baby!!!
But nothing compares to shooting a beautiful young girl, new to the industry, for the first time. The hope, fear, and anxious look in her eyes makes the day very special. For her to come halfway across the country, and trust me completely with her body bare to the world, is something that makes me feel very comfortable inside. Reputation is the key.
In all the years I have been shooting, I have always kept a firm belief that if you treat people with respect they will return it. So I have the absolute utmost respect for every dancer that graces the stage. They are the hardest-working girls in the work force, and I appreciate all they do. Many times I totally forget to shoot my camera when I see a great performance unfolding in front of me. The grace and beauty of a practiced feature dancer is a sight to behold and I would like to say, "God bless you all".
I still live in Peoria, Illinois and have my studio there. I do layout work for all the different magazines there, and also shoot promo. Many people ask who was the most beautiful girl I have ever shot. The answer is "The one I'm shooting today." They are all very special in their own way.
For the past 2 years I have been training a new assistant photographer, Linsay Larimore, who some of you know as "Chloe". She is a very hard worker and has proven her ability in the industry. I know you will all give her the respect she deserves. She is not only my assistant, but my very best friend. But not my girlfriend!!! Good.......got that in. She is also very much in love with, and engaged to, a fine young man in Alabama.
This industry has been so good to me in so many ways: the models, the agents, the editors, the promotors, and the lady at the airport who always seems to eventually find my luggage, that I don't know what else to say. Except, thank you..........and call me before you're 29.
Sincerely,
Bob Ferguson
2003
"Tough Job!" 1993