A casting director once called Justin a young Paul Newman. But unlike Newman, Justin basically considered Hollywood a place to find dates rather than a place to pursue a career. His brief flirtation with the entertainment business probably had more to do with me pushing him to do it rather than any real desire on his part to model or act.
The thing was, Justin already had a career as an owner and general manager of King's River Expeditions - a river rafting company based in Fresno and operating on the King's River. He didn't really need another career but he ws a good sport and let me talk him into building a portfolio and going to see a few agents and casting directors.
I met justin in the spring of '84 at the L.A. Boat Show. He had a booth there promoting his river rafting business and I was in the booth next to his selling underwater cameras. We hit it off from day one and have been great friends ever since.
Being eager in those days to take pictures of anybody I could get to sit still for me, I convinced Justin to let me have a go at him and our first photo session took place in the days following the boat show. If you listen to Justin talk about it, there was a pygmalion effect that took place. He says his hair was in a bowl cut, he was fat and was fond of wearing corduroy jeans. The transformation from country bumpkin to the babe you see in these pictures is something that he's always credited to me. But let's just get one thing straight here: Justin was never fat and his hair wasn't in a bowl cut. But the corduroy jeans, well, that's another story. I did kind of have to insist that he not wear them when he was in Hollywood. And I did get him to the right hairdressers and taught him a few things about grooming. OK, so maybe I slicked him up just a little.
But he didn't have far to go.
Like so many other people I photographed in the early days of my career, Justin had little idea what all the fuss was about. I knew there was something amazing about his looks right from the moment I met him and that's why I wanted to photograph him. But I don't think Justin was seduced as much by my flattery as he was by his own curiosity. He was in his early twenties when we met and called himself Jeb - vaguely naieve and wide-eyed but possessed of an extraordinary intelligence and awareness that came through in every single frame I ever shot of him.
One thing Justin was not when I met him was a virgin and as I have come to learn over the years, I was as much his date-pimp as I was his friend and photographer. And that's OK by me. Justin got his women and I got lots and lots of practice at being a photographer.
All in all it was a pretty fair exchange.
When I think about it, Justin's foray into the business was probably more about his fascination with people than it was about a desire to take a ride on the Hollywood ego train. The "awe-shucks" part of him never faded into the background but held it's own alongside the grace that he developed in the avalanche of attention that came his way.
I can honestly say that Justin is one of the most interesting, intelligent and caring guys I've ever met. When you have a conversation with him he looks you straight in the eyes and listens to every word you say - absorbing all of it and able to refer back to it even many years later. He's one of those rare people who is genuinely fascinated by what others have to say and it's part of what makes him so unique and so irresistable.
And irresistable he is - in person or in print. I've never seen anybody who was so perfectly capable of turning both women and men into mush before him. Over the years I've watched with great amusement as people would come to the pictures of him in my portfolios and stop and actually start to giggle or sigh. Either that or just sit there and stare without turning the page for a very long time. Whatever it is about him that charms in person, comes across in a lot of his pictures.
Justin is one of those people to whom genetics have been kind; A handsome face, a lean and muscled body and a natural athleticism that perfectly define the All-American Boy. And damn if he isn't just the nicest guy you'd ever meet. It's tempting to want to look at somebody like that and wonder where the fatal flaw is; "There's gotta be something wrong with this guy. Nobody could be this perfect."
Well, I've been looking for that flaw for twenty years now and I've never found it.
Now in his early forties, Justin is married to Julie, a beautiful, easy-going social worker and former river guide who met Justin working for him on the river. They have an adorable daughter together with another one on the way. When Justin isn't on the river leading expeditions and playing his guitar for campfires, he teaches in the MBA program at the Fresno State, kayaks on exotic rivers around the world and builds furniture in his garage. Along with the good genetics came a good heart, a heightened awareness and the ability to be self-aware without being self-consumed.
Aside from my daughter Auri, I don't think there's been anybody that I've taken more pictures of than Justin. Thousands of pictures of him by himself and with a bevy of Hollywood beauties. It would be impossible to talk about my work as a photographer without talking about Justin. He's an integral part of what the journey was all about for me and a patient muse who penetrated my inner sanctum from moment one.
And besides all that, he's the only person I can think of who calls me Thomas. I'm not sure why he does it - but I like it.
