Andy Shomock was born in Vestaburg, Pennsylvania, a small town about 40 miles south of Pittsburgh.  The town has fewer than 900 people - and not much in the way of organized entertainment.  So, he spent a lot of time hiking in the woods with friends.  That's where he developed his love of the outdoors.  And when he wasn't hiking, he was reading - mostly in the areas of art and history.  Of course, the male nudes depicted in paintings and sculptures were of the greatest interest to him.
But it wasn't until the early 1980s that things all came together.  Andy had moved to Los Angeles and was enjoying the California lifestyle.  He bought his first Canon A-1 SLR and set up a home darkroom.  He wanted to get into male nude photography and do his own developing and printing.  The first pictures he took with the new camera were nude self-portraits.  "I had decided I couldn't ask anyone else to do what I had not done myself.  It was a very liberating experience!"
Andy spent the late 1980s moving around the country on various jobs.  And the photography, nude or otherwise, suffered because of it.  Anyway, he made it back to Los Angeles in 1991 and has been building his list of models and inventory of images ever since.
"Let's face it, most jobs are dull and uninspiring and we can hardly wait to get out of the office.  But for me, photographing the male nude is just the opposite.  When I look through the viewfinder, I can forget about all the annoyances of the real world and just enjoy the beauty of the man in front of my lens.  And I thoroughly enjoy capturing that beauty on film.  I'll gladly work overtime and weekends doing this!!"
"My aim is to create beautiful images of the hunky guy next door.  I prefer models with that trim swimmer / wrestler / farm boy look rather than the overdone weightlifter look.  And I love photographing them outdoors.  So, take a look at my Galleries.  And enjoy!"

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