Glam, greed, back-stabbing, love and lust all combine for this fall’s latest guilty pleasure. The A-List: New York follows some of the Big Apple’s most talked about gay elite including The Amazing Race winner and Lance Bass former Reichen Lehmkuhl, Marc Jacobs’ former fling Austin Armacost, sought-after stylist Ryan Nickulas and renowned celebrity photographer Mike Ruiz.
From the producers of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, the new docu-reality series, which premiered Oct. 4 on Logo, follows these high-profile men on their journey to “have it all” from their glamorous careers to their weekends vacationing amongst the multi-million dollar homes of The Hamptons and brushing shoulders with celebrities and socialites.
Out From Behind the Camera
“It was a little unnerving,” photographer Mike Ruiz said of going from behind the camera to having his everyday life filmed. “I’ve created a world for myself professionally. I’m kind of at the helm of everything so it was difficult to relinquish control.”
By the end of filming, Ruiz said he had become comfortable with the production crew and simply had to trust in the fact that he conducted himself as he would in his everyday life. He says he’s yet to see any of the episodes but hopes he is portrayed accurately.
“I want people see that I’m just a wacky, zany, fun-loving, creative guy who’s just trying to do something good and have a good time while doing it,” he said.
Behind the Lens
Ruiz, best known for his high-impact, surreal brand of transformation photography, has worked with a veritable “who’s who” of A-List glitterati including Debbie Harry, RuPaul, Beyonce, Kelly Rowland, Christina Aguilera and Kathy Griffin. His work has been featured on RuPaul’s Drag Race, My Life on the D-List and fashion publications like Vanity Fair, Interview, Elle and Vogue.
Although considered “A-List,” Ruiz is very humble and devotes a lot of his time and efforts to gay charities. One that resonates most with him is The Trevor Project, which offers counseling and outreach programs for LGBT youth. It offers encouragement or just someone to talk to.
“I was that kid,” Ruiz explains. “I felt ostracized and alienated.”
Raised in Canada in a blue-collar, religious family, Ruiz said he felt isolated. He said not having anyone to talk to made it even that more difficult to deal with the feelings he was having.
“[The Trevor Project’s] platform is incredible,” Ruiz says. “I feel it’s my duty and responsibility to let every gay youth out there know that this exists.”
Most recently, the celeb/fashion photog—and star of the upcoming reality show The A-List: New York—unveiled his latest solo exhibit “Transformations,” a work representing celebrities’ alter egos, as interpreted by the photographer himself. A portion of all net proceeds from exhibit sales went to the Leslie/Lohman Gay Art Foundation, an outlet for art work that is unambiguously gay and which is frequently denied access to mainstream venues.
It should come as no surprise that Ruiz describes his career and work as “Hopeful.” It truly reflects a classic American success story.
“My whole creative process flows from my need to create a hopeful aesthetic,” Ruiz says. “All of my images are aspirations of what I want the world to be.”
As an industry authority, there aren’t many celebrities Ruiz hasn’t worked with and says they’ve all been memorable. But he says his favorite subjects are personalities from the 1980s. He attributes his creative existence to many of them, including Prince, Brooke Shields and Betty White since that was when he was establishing himself and creating his artistic identity.
“I remember getting tongue-tied working with Deborah Harry because I came of age with her music and she was very instrumental during my formative years creatively and socially,” Ruiz recalls. “To actually meet someone who was part of making me who I am was truly gratifying.”
The Original A-List
“It’s funny how the universe works,” Ruiz says of being a part of The A-List.
Before being asked to do the reality series, he had been working with a writer to help produce a series of his own called The 10 10s. Ruiz said he had read a script by a writer who became infatuated with the concept about this “elite” group of influential gay guys in the mid-90s L.A. scene, called “The 10 10s.”
“We kind of became an urban legend,” Ruiz recalls. “It was very tongue in cheek to us, especially when people started making claims that they were one of us.”
It turns out Ruiz was one of “The 10 10s” and thought the script was brilliant. However, he admits that he and friends never called themselves that. According to Ruiz, “The 10 10s” were just a group of well-to-do, trendy socialites who went out and had a good time.
“It’s basically a scripted version of The A-List, except the cast of The A-List is a lot more together than ‘The 10 10’s,’” Ruiz says.
Ruiz hopes to parlay the attention from The A-List to get the word out about The 10 10’s and hopefully find a home for the series within the next year. And for those that would love to own a piece of Mike Ruiz, he is also compiling a book of photography slated for a mid-2011 release.
With a unique approach to the exploration of visceral brilliance, his finely crafted frames of reference, Ruiz continues to explore different forms of expression via film, television and music. Even surrounded by such an array of different archetypes on The A-List, Ruiz has definitely taken his rightful place among them. Watch as these strong personalities collide and the drama unfolds this fall on Logo.
see+hear
What: The A-List: New York
Where: Logo
When: Mondays, 10pm
More Info: Facebook.com/MikeRuiz1
or LogoTV.com
