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Suze Randall memoir reissue: a kink-friendly collaboration
Seventies Playboy model/photographer Suze Randall (left) on the cover of her memoir, Suze, which is due for reissue thanks to a Kickstarter collaboration between daughter Holly (right) and fellow photographer Allan Amato
SUZE RANDALL MEMOIR REISSUE: A KINK-FRIENDLY COLLABORATION
Two Los Angeles photographers with substantial connections to the fetish photography genre have teamed up on a project to reissue the legendary 1977 tell-all memoir of famous Playboy model and photographer Suze Randall.
One of them is Suze’s daughter, photographer and videographer Holly Randall, whose work today straddles both the mainstream adult and fetish worlds. The other is celebrity portrait photographer Allan Amato, whose name will be familiar to many kinksters through his earlier personal and creative partnership with legendary British fetish model Ulorin Vex.
Holly and Allan are currently overseeing the final days of a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign titled Suze Randall — Naked and Unashamed, which runs until December 17 and has already comfortably exceeded its initial funding target.
“I'm so thrilled to be finally re-releasing my mother's memoir after all this time,” says Holly. “This was a project I was working on closely with my father when he passed away last January, and so it was incredibly important to me to see this through. To see how quickly we hit our goal has been incredibly bittersweet — my father would have been so thrilled. For me, this re-release is as much for him as it is for my mother."
This 1999 Suze Randall portrait of Dita Von Teese is the subject of a limited edition signed print – one of the Kickstarter rewards on offer
Amato’s Holy Crow Press is collaborating with Holly on re-introducing the out-of-print volume alongside a limited edition photo book, exclusive prints, and workshop opportunities as rewards for backers. He says: “I’ve been a huge fan of Suze’s work throughout my career. I just had to have a book showcasing her groundbreaking 40-year-plus career on my table, but what clinched it was meeting Suze in person. I want to be like Suze when I grow up. And so should you.”
Written by Suze Randall's late husband Humphry Knipe, Suze has been out of print for decades and is a rarity on the book collector’s market, at times going for thousands of dollars online. The memoir chronicles the artist’s groundbreaking tenure as Playboy’s first female staff photographer during an era marked by excess and indulgence, and highlights Randall’s personal and professional experiences inside Hugh Hefner’s soft-porn empire.
In 1975, Suze — a British-born ex-nurse — was the only woman in Playboy both in front of and behind the lens. She was a ‘feature’ at Hefner's notorious mansion parties, but her meteoric rise ended when she released her memoir of those experiences without consulting the prickly mogul. He allegedly spat at her and had her marched off the premises.
But Randall didn’t give up, going on to a storied photography career that included stints at Penthouse and Hustler before launching her own company in the early 2000s. Her iconic style spans the golden age of girlie magazines, and onward into the infamous arena of the worldwide web, with starlets like Jenna Jameson, Stormy Daniels, Aria Giovanni and Belladonna.
Mosh (main image) is one of many well-known fetish models photographed by Holly and featured in the various Holly Randall monographs published by Goliath
Suze’s daughter Holly was also destined for a life behind the lens, her affinity for photography and filmmaking cultivated from an early age. She attended Brooks Institute of Photography to hone her craft, then joined the family business assisting her mother. In 2004, Holly began producing and directing films for Suze.net before stepping into the spotlight in 2008 with her own studio, Holly Randall Productions.
Holly has worked for nearly every brand in the adult industry, including hosting the popular Playboy TV show Adult Film School and the Digital Playground competition DP Star. German book publisher Goliath has published several collections of her fetish-inspired photography including Kinky Lingerie Girls, Kinky Nylons, Kinky Super Beauties and Super Nylon Parade.
In 2017, Holly launched the weekly podcast Holly Randall Unfiltered and has appeared in documentaries such as Netflix series Hot Girls Wanted, Amazon Prime Video’s Back Issues: The Hustler Magazine Story, and Vice TV’s Before the Internet.
Her Kickstarter partner Allan Amato — born and raised in Harare, Zimbabwe, but now a longtime LA resident — discovered his love for photography after Hurricane Katrina forced him to re-examine the course of his life. He has become a highly regarded celebrity portrait photographer through his fine art depictions of subjects ranging from Ministry to Nick Nolte to Terry Gilliam (seen with llan below).
Allan Amato — shown with Python’s Terry Gilliam in the left-hand image — will be known to many fans of fetish photography for his work with famous British redhead Ulorin Vex, whom he photographed here with Jane Doe Latex designer Nina Kate
Allan has also been working with creative partner Olga Nunes on directing Temple of Art, a feature-length documentary. He says his lifelong dream is to become an honorary member of Monty Python.
Scheduled for release in June 2024, the reissue of Suze features 18 pages of never-before-seen content from the Suze archives, and backers’ reward options will also include Suze — The LTD Edition Photography Book, a premium-stock coffee-table book with full-colour images spanning Randall’s prolific 40-year career. With a run of only 1,500, the photo book will be signed and numbered by Suze herself.
The Kickstarter campaign page (link below) includes a wealth of fascinating photos and several videos, and is well worth a visit just for its visuals. But there’s also still time to pledge your backing to secure one of the campaign’s many handsome rewards!
Suze Re-Issue crowdfunder at Kickstarter.com
Holly Randall at HollyLinks.com
Allan Amato shot this delightful video, below, of mother and daughter, Suze and Holly, for the memoir’s Kickstarter campaign. More video can be found on the campaign page (link above)