Photographer Lewis Payton Shows the World His Perfect 10

“I try to capture the unique soul of my subjects when I shoot them. All of these men have physical beauty, but what I wanted to achieve with 10 is something more than just photographing physical perfection. I chose ten images that reflect the complexity of masculinity and sensuality.”

Photographer, documentarian and human rights activist Lewis Payton launched his limited-edition book 10 at a loud and lavish party in I-Candy on Santa Monica Boulevard.

NYC fashion model Billy Steele made his Los Angeles DJ debut, and after the crowd had drunk some of the Perfect 10 margaritas, Payton introduced several of the featured 10 models including cover star Ryan Daharsh, Sean Harley, Caleb Lane and Jeff Wilson from < > – to an audience including < > diva Janice Dickinson, Rex Lee from < > and Peter Paige from < >.

“I couldn’t pick a favorite man in 10”, Payton admitted. “However, I can say that I have never seen a more perfect body than that of cover model, Ryan Daharsh. He is a living Greek statue.”

He’ll soon be jetting off around the world to New York, Miami, Sydney, Cape Town, London, Berlin, Paris, Tokyo and Rio to promote his expanded, large format version of 10. The traveling collection will feature more of Payton’s renowned images, along with his portraiture collection, and the 3000 copies of 10 are now available for purchase on his website before they hit select retail outlets September 10.

Payton was born in Perth, Australia and spent most of his late teens and early 20’s traveling, and after gaining an Arts degree at home he left for New York and a career in advertising. It was only three years before wanderlust hit him again, and in the late 1990’s he lived underground for a month in Bucharest while shooting a documentary on the lives of Romania’s unwanted “sewer children”, then journeyed to the Middle East to film the story of a teenage boy’s imprisonment by Syria’s brutal dictatorship. It was the beginning of his involvement with Amnesty International, and his ongoing passion for Human Rights.

He moved to Los Angeles a few years ago and, frustrated at losing a plum writing job because the magazine wanted a words and picture deal, he bought himself a 35 mm camera and started teaching himself to shoot stills. It was the beginning of another passionate relationship, and he was instantly hooked:

“I love the power of photography. In an era where everything is speeding up, simple photographs still stop us in our tracks.”

Today he divides his time between commercial photography and his website itallstartstoday.com, which details his documentaries and human rights work. Next year will also see the publication of his first book of photography, The Garden.