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Suze Randall Master Erotic Photographer

Would it surprise you that Suze Randall takes her daughter Holly along for her erotic photo shoots?

By Filthy StaffPublished 8 years ago 3 min read
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"We are selling sex darling." —Suze Randall

Suze Randall, husband Humphry Knipe and daughter Holly are historically one the most important and influential families in the adult entertainment industry of the later part of the 20th century.

Humphry directed a series of well received adult films that in the mid 1980s, when such types of films were not yet dragged down with the shifting tides of erotic culture and the creeping influence of the internet. Under the alias Victor Nye, Ginger Lynn, Harry Reems and Lisa De Leeuw. Their daughter Holly, is one of the industry's leading female adult photographers.

While many women in the porn industry are used to being in front of the camera, Suze found she preferred being behind the lens. Susan "Suze" Randall is known for being a female pioneer in both the field of photography and pornography. As one of the first female staff photographers for both Playboy and Hustler, she broke into the male-dominated world of erotic magazines. It was during the 1980s, that she became one of the earliest female porn producers, paving the way for other women to follow. From there, she went on to provide Penthouse with photos that exhibited her erotic style and labeled her as one of the world’s leading erotic photographers for more than 35 years.

Working first as a nurse, then as a fashion model in the early 1970s, Randall gained attention for the erotic photographs she took of her fellow models. In 1972, she played an au pair in Éric Rohmer’s film, Love in the Afternoon. It was after this acting experience that she gave up modeling and devoted her time to erotic photography. She became the first woman to shoot Page 3 for The Sun newspaper, which is a feature that consists of a large photograph of a topless female glamour model, published on the newspaper’s third page.

Her breakthrough came when she spotted the pinup model Lillian Müller and photographed her for Playboy. Müller was chosen as Playmate of the Month in August 1975 and subsequently Playmate of the Year in 1976. In a pictorial in Playboy’s May 1976 issue, Randall was both photographer and model. She went on to shoot a much more explicit self-portrait in a June 1977 Hustler pictorial. When Randall started with Penthouse, her work was already well known and was admired by thousands of readers worldwide.

Humphry made films with the the notorious porn industry rebel Reuben Sturman, including a few movies with Traci Lords that were actually made just before it was publicly acknowledged that Traci was in fact an underage entertainer.

Suze’s daughter was eager to follow in her mother's footsteps and start a career in erotic photography. Holly Randall was 20 years old and a student at Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California, when Suze asked her to help her with the family run website. In 2004, Holly became interested in video production and started directing and producing all of the movies for the website, Suze.net and by 2005, her work had graced the covers of every major American adult magazine. She has also gone on to write several books including, Erotic Dream Girls.

Together the family's involvement in the adult industry dates back to the early 1970s and spans 2 generations. Suze truly was at the heart of the adult magazine industry. While living in Los Angeles, she was often flying coast to coast dealing, and even fighting, with the giant egos of the three most powerful men in the industry in the later 20th century. Hugh Hefner, Larry Flynt, and Bob Guccione all respected, did business with, and truly appreciated the eye of the great female erotic photographer Suze Randall.

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About the Creator

Filthy Staff

A group of inappropriate, unconventional & disruptive professionals. Some are women, some are men, some are straight, some are gay. All are Filthy.

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