A Field Guide to Porn Legend Kristen Bjorn

Last week on October 12 was the 54th Birthday of porn auteur Kristen Bjorn, whose sexy signature style has remained unmatched. To this day, connoisseurs of gay pornography hold Bjorn with the special reverence that film buffs hold to Hitchcock, or theatre queens give to Garland. For two decades, this one man has given porn an unmatched mega-charged eroticism.

Despite his Scandinavian pseudonym, Bjorn was actually born in London. At a young age, his family moved to Washington D.C., where he dreamed of traveling the world as a photographer for National Geographic. He reached his dream of international photography all right, but shooting wildlife of a completely naked sort. When Bjorn moved to San Francisco in 1978 at the age of 21, he quickly became interested in gay erotica, working out his body to mirror the sleek physiques popular during that time.

In the early 1980s, Bjorn was photographed for now defunct Mandate magazine by photographer Fred Bisonnes. This led to him starring in scenes for famed Falcon studios in the early films "Biker's Liberty" and "The New Breed," both released in '83. Lucky Kristen is one of the few men blessed to have sex with legendary hunk Bill Henson. Oh, how we burn with jealous desire.

Bjorn's life in front of the camera was short lived. He started submitting his own nude male photography to gay porn magazines, which led directly to his start as a filmmaker. His first film, "Tropical Heatwave," came out in 1988, and featured a series of solos with Brazilian men. Then came two decades of some of the hottest films ever made by any porn director. Even William Higgins, in the foreword to the book "The Films of Kristen Bjorn" said, "[in] the relatively brief history of hardcore gay videos, Kristen Bjorn has emerged unchallenged as the best director to date." Considering how groundbreaking Higgins' own work has been, that's like a compliment from the King.

Bjorn could be considered the first "sex only" director of gay porn. His videos always dispensed of narrative and went straight for the sex. Moody, new agey music would play, instead of the Casio-keyboard bang-chicka-bang sound prevalent in porn of the time. The sounds in his early videos were always dubbed; the camerawork and sex were astounding, but we never got to hear the real moans of pleasure from the men.

His photography has been unparalleled, clearly showing the natural talent that could have graced the pages of National Geographic. He surprised many a viewer because the sex scenes have multiple cumshots; one guy would ejaculate four times in a single scene. And the cumshots were always delightfully hands-free, allowing us to view the dick and it naturally jerks and pulses while orgasming out buckets of semen.

Bjorn loved travel. Long before Bel Ami made international men an object of American lust, Bjorn made various lands around the globe his home, and brought their native masculinity to the horny households of American gay men. Brazil brought "Tropical Heatwave" (1989) and "Carnival in Rio" (1990). A spell in Eastern Europe brought "The Vampire of Budapest" (1995), "Comrades in Arms" (1995), and "Hungary for Men" (1996).

Our personal favorites included his time in Quebec, with brought "Montreal Men" (1993) and the steamy lumberjack sextravaganza"Call of the Wild" (1993). Then there's the delectable Australian trilogy from 1992—"A Sailor in Sydney," "Jackaroos" and "Manly Beach."

Of course, with the advent of the internet, Bjorn remains strong with his own beautifully designed website presenting his exclusive, signature content. Now that he lives in Spain, the men are mainly sexily swarthy Mediterranean lotharios. Or dick looks forward to many more years of top-notch jack-off material from one of the most unforgettable pornographers in the history of male erotica.

· His Official Website (kristenbjorn.com)
· His Facebook Page (facebook.com)
· His Twitter Page (twitter.com)

[Bjorn with Bill Henson and Nick Harlon via "The New Breed" (falconstudios.com)]

[Early Bjorn via Gay Porn star Kristen Bjorn (alsgaypornstars.com)]

[Behind the Scenes via queermenow.net]

[Bjorn's first porn film via "Tropical Heatwave"]

[Video still via "Manly Beach" (kristenbjorn.com)]

[Via "Horns of Plenty" (kristenbjorn.com)]