Steve Kelso

Stunning: Strikingly beautiful, remarkably attractive and exceptionally impressive—someone who catches your attention so strongly that you’re left filled with admiration.

That’s Steve Kelso for me. I ended yesterday’s Towels in the Studio post with him, and he’s appeared on bushnstache many times before. But somehow I’ve never given him a solo feature. It’s overdue. Truthfully, I have a big crush on this man.

*All photos below are of Steve Kelso by Jim French of Colt Studio. Enjoy!

1. In a baseball cap and sitting on a woven chair. Notice the small towel under him...subject of past 5 posts.

2. In a green flannel muscle shirt.

Kelso has what I think of as a lion-and-lamb quality: a sweet, charming, almost dorky smile, a furry, huggable body and an ordinary man-next-door appeal. Then he changes his expression or shifts his weight and becomes a smoldering sex god. Gorgeous physique, beautiful penis, low-hanging balls, perfect butt—he’s what I call a gestalt man. Every feature is attractive on its own, but put them together and the result is smoking hot.

3. Many themes in one image; Cowboy Hats, Boots, Assets, Windows, and Toys & Instruments. Always appreciate a bulldog pose.

4. Studio shot with grey background reaching up.

5. In posing strap and sucking his thumb. Classic mustache.

6. In the ocean with scuba goggles, snorkel, and flippers.  Such a great smile!

There’s confidence in him, but also a kind of humility. I can almost imagine an awkward young man who grew into this magnificent body without losing his sweetness. And unlike most models, Kelso sends me straight into a fantasy of being there with him—the warmth of his hairy chest against mine, a kiss, the sound of his voice. It’s visceral. I have to pause and pull myself away. That’s a powerful photograph.

7. Great camera angle for chest hair and V-shapes throughout composition.

8. Cropped shot against a wooden wall with bolo tie.  I love how the body hair creates a strong center line pointing to his manhood.

9. Another bulldog shot with pitchfork, hay bails, and work boots.

10. Leaning against a stump with strong profile jawline.

Jim French deserves enormous credit for these images, but Kelso was a creative collaborator, not simply a beautiful body. He described treating the camera almost like another person, changing his expressions to draw a reaction from it. You can see that gift throughout this set: sometimes the sweetest doll of a man, sometimes the nastiest sex god.

11. Reclining against a towel with socks. Come and get it.

12. Seated against a wall with tools and wheel barrel.

I’d heard that he submitted nude photographs to Colt on a dare, but Kelso corrected that story himself. He met Jim French while visiting California, French invited him to pose, and his first shoot landed him on the cover of Colt’s 1993 calendar. By 1994, he had a calendar of his own. 

13. Yet another bulldog and a spine twist.

14. Outdoor oublique standing pose.

One of my missions with bushnstache is to celebrate the men in front of the camera as much as the photographers behind it. Kelso deserves a huge hip-hip-hooray. Sweet, masculine, playful, fiercely sexy—and absolutely stunning.

Steve Kelso, I salute you!

Please leave thoughts, questions, additions or corrections in the comments. Thank you, bns