What a time to be alive — the ladies of this generation are some of the luckiest that have ever lived, and the reason can be summed up in one hilarious portmanteau: the dudeoir photo. Like boudoir photos, dudeoir shoots feature everyday men saucily posed in their boxer briefs and tighty-whities, making come-hither eyes at the camera. Unlike your amateur naughty pic, though, dudeoirs are tastefully done by a talented photographer, as opposed to you, a little drunk, with your iPhone.
Chad Castigliano of Chronicker Photography is the latest to conquer the frontier of dudeoir, with a little help from some amazing people. And the best part? SheKnows spoke to Castigliano, and it turns out these shots don’t just go on to further the cause of something nice for your eyeballs. They go on to further a much better cause than that. Get ready to meet the three people who might be the coolest in all of Arizona.
Meet Tim
First, let’s get what you really want to know out of the way. That handsome fella in the pictures is actual hand-to-God wildland firefighter Tim Wilson, aka Tim the Whimsical Woodsman.
So saucy
Tim volunteered to help out Castigliano and his wife, Jasmine Castigliano, on a very special initiative.
Books for kids in crisis
You see, Jasmine runs a nonprofit in Yavapai called Books to the Rescue! Castigliano told us, adding that the organization is “a nonprofit that works to get Yavapai County’s first responders the tools they need to bring comfort and distraction to Yavapai County’s children in crisis.”
Tim the Whimsical Woodsman
The group stocks first responder vehicles with comfort items for children coming out of traumatic situations.
Raising awareness
Jasmine has the sheriff on board, Castigliano told us, going on to rattle off a list of her amazing advocate work, and we got the feeling that he’s possibly married to a superwoman. “You wanna talk about someone interesting? It’s her! She owns Northern Arizona Brain Integration, works with Usborne Books, has an attachment parenting blog, is certified in attachment parenting, started the Books to the Rescue Yavapai County, is a huge child advocate and maintains her Arizona teaching credentials… She doesn’t get enough acknowledgment for all the stuff she does for kids.”
An idea is born
Even with the support, the organization could use a little more attention to secure the resources it needs, which brings us back to the Whimsical Woodsman here.
A friend in need
Wilson volunteered to help out the pair, revealing a soft heart under that lumberjack exterior. By the way, Castigliano clarified that this is 100 percent authentic manly, outdoorsy dude-age right there: “I have had one comment saying something to the effect that he might be a bearded hipster. Far from it — he’s a tough-as-nails firefighter but such a loving guy at the same time.”
Strong and sensitive
Well, obviously. Look at those little beard flowers!
A special shoot
As for the shoot itself, which took place in beautiful Cherry, Arizona, Castigliano summed it up as a fun, fantastic experience for the group of friends.
Trying to keep a straight face
The group included Wilson’s wife (sorry, ladies) and children along with the Castiglianos’ 3-year-old, who had her own ideas about Wilson’s wardrobe choice. “My daughter kept yelling at him that she saw his underwear. It didn’t help us to stop the laughter. We started with the photos of him on the tree stump, and it took a good 15 minutes or so to be able to really stop laughing. It was awesome!”
He’s a natural
After a while, things just started coming naturally, and it’s clear that if Wilson ever gets sick of fighting fires, he would make an excellent niche model. Maybe his wife could be his manager. “We came up with poses from his wife, Sierra Wilson, and a mix between he and I [sic]. After a while, we all got relaxed enough and were just working it, and he was coming up with some crazy stuff! All in all, we were at it for about an hour and a half or so.”
Maybe he’s born with it
We mean, look at him! He was born to do pinup modeling for children’s charities. The camera loves him!
Support pours in
As for the response the photos have gotten, Castigliano is thrilled at the staggering number of people who have dropped by to find out more about the handsome bearded man off of Highway 169, which provides a perfect opportunity to talk about Books to the Rescue! “I wasn’t sure what would happen,” Castigliano admits, but he adds that he’s stunned at the fast response and outpouring of support.
Lots of attention
In fact, Castigliano said that other dudes are ready and willing to shuck their clothing in the name of charity and dudeoir, which could lead to some really exciting stuff for both Castiglianos…
Big stuff on the horizon
“I have had several men approach me on this, and they would be willing to do photos,” Castigliano told us, clearly excited at the amount of interest his great photos have drummed up both in dudeoir and in Books to the Rescue!
“A chef, a stonemason, a tattoo artist… So we are now tossing [around] the idea of creating a calendar to help raise money for Books to the Rescue! We will see how it goes.”
Sign us up!
We can’t wait to see what comes of that, but as far as we’re concerned, the more dudeoir photos that exist in the world, the better place the world will be. If there’s a way to turn them into meaningful help for kids in crisis, more’s the better. Let us know when that calendar comes out, Chad. We’ll be first in line to snatch up a copy!
All in a day’s work
Want more Whimsical Woodsman? You can learn more about Chronicker Photography on Castigliano’s website and Facebook page, and be sure to drop by Jasmine’s Books to the Rescue! nonprofit page while you’re at it.
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