John Kayser

Little is known about amateur erotic photographer and Super 8 filmmaker John Kayser. He was born in North Dakota in 1922, serviced a bombardment squadron during World War II, and after the war moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as an assembler for Northrop Aircraft and later became one of their technical illustrators. Maybe he married. Starting in 1960 until the early ’80s, he photographed women he met in bars and strip clubs, sometimes hiring artists’ models, or anyone attractive enough and willing to strip and be photographed. They were girls he might connect with, intimately or not, and they often came back for later shoots. Kayser shot mostly in his home studio, often in front of pale-pink backdrop paper or on tables or chairs, with props. When he shot outdoors, the models dressed as sexily as they might for LA’s warm sun. Kayser’s photographs have been called “almost…