Charles Hovland Born 1956
American, Photographer

Charles Hovland grew up on a turkey farm in southern Minnesota with two older sisters and two younger brothers. He graduated from Northfield high school. He moved to New York City after graduating from Augsburg college, a small liberal arts college in Minneapolis , with a major in painting. Finding that it was too difficult to paint in a small apartment, he picked up a camera. Friends started asking him to take photos of them to answer personal ads and that started his career photographing the male nude. He started photographing men for the major men's magazines (Mandate, Torso, Inches, Honcho, Playguy, Black Inches, Latin Inches) in the late 80s and continues to work for them today. His photographs have been shown in major galleries and museums in the United States and Europe .