Ray Dragon is a gay

Gay

Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....

, American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 pornographic performer

Pornographic actor

A pornographic actor/actress or a porn star is a person who appears in pornographic film. Most actors appear nude in films...

 (porn star) who produces and directs gay

Homosexuality

Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...

 pornographic

Gay pornography

Gay pornography is the representation of sexual intercourse between men with the primary goal of sexual arousal in its audience. There is also a tradition, and continuing considerable output, of lesbian pornography....

 films. He is a published photographer. He has his own swimsuit collection.

A former gymnast

Gymnast

Gymnasts are people who participate in the sports of either artistic gymnastics, trampolining, or rhythmic gymnastics.See gymnasium for the origin of the word gymnast from gymnastikos.-Female artistic:Australia...

, Dragon attended school at Michigan State University

Michigan State University

Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...

 and received both computer engineering

Computer engineering

Computer engineering, also called computer systems engineering, is a discipline that integrates several fields of electrical engineering and computer science required to develop computer systems. Computer engineers usually have training in electronic engineering, software design, and...

 and performing arts

Performing arts

The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...

 degrees. His dancing

Dance

Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....

 and acting

Acting

Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play....

 skills led to his performance in a Metropolitan Opera

Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...

 production of Hector Berlioz

Hector Berlioz

Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a...

’s “least-performed opera,” Benvenuto Cellini

Benvenuto Cellini (opera)

Benvenuto Cellini is an opera in two acts with music by Hector Berlioz and libretto by Léon de Wailly and Henri Auguste Barbier. It was the first of Berlioz's operas. The story is loosely based on the memoirs of the Florentine sculptor Benvenuto Cellini. The opera is technically very challenging...

, as well as appearances in the national tour of Camelot

Camelot (musical)

Camelot is a musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe . It is based on the King Arthur legend as adapted from the T. H. White tetralogy novel The Once and Future King....

and the film Poison

Poison (film)

Poison is a 1991 independent film written and directed by Todd Haynes. It is composed of three intercut stories that are partially inspired by the novels of Jean Genet...

.

Model, first appearances in pornography

Having worked as a go-go dancer in gay clubs

Nightclub

A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...

 in New York, Dragon was beginning his fashion career when his then lover sent pictures of him to Colt Studios

COLT Studio Group

-Overview:It has produced all-male erotica for over 40 years. Started in New York City in 1967, moved to Los Angeles for twenty five years and is now based in San Francisco, California...

. His career in the porn industry began by being photographed by Colt’s founder, Jim French

Jim French (photographer)

Jim French is an American photographer who under the pseudonym Rip Colt created Colt Studio to publish, what were to become, his iconic homoerotic images in the books, magazines and calendars that presented French's work exclusively and set a new standard for idealized masculinity in...

, and Dragon soon attained cover-man status. One of his last films during that period in the porn industry, Minute Man 11, was released in 1996; Dragon left the industry to concentrate on his fashion design firm.

In addition to Jim French, Dragon has been photographed by such notable photographers as David Morgan and Tom Bianchi

Tom Bianchi

Tom Bianchi is an American writer and photographer who specializes in male nude photography.-Career:His nineteen books of photographs, poems, and essays primarily cover the gay male experience....

; he has appeared on the covers of magazines such as Genre

Genre (magazine)

Genre magazine was a New York city-based monthly periodical written for gay men. It was owned by gay press publisher Window Media.-History:...

and Next, as well as on the cover of Titan Men: Macho Mayhem.

Return to pornography

Since returning to the pornography industry in 2001, Dragon has worked for noted directors Bruce Cam, John Rutherford, and Joe Gage

Tim Kincaid

Tim Kincaid is an American film director, film writer and film producer often credited as Joe Gage or Mac Larson.-Biographical note:...

 in films for Titan Media

Titan Media

Titan Media is a San Francisco-based gay pornographic film company founded by director and cinematographer Bruce Cam in 1995.-Overview:The company grew to become one of the largest producers of gay adult content in the world...

 and Colt Studios. He formed his own production company, Dragon Media, whose productions have received numerous GayVN Award

GayVN Awards

The GAYVN Awards are presented annually to honor work done in the gay pornography industry. The awards are sponsored by AVN Magazine, the parent publication of GAYVN Magazine, and continue the recognition for gay pornography which was part of the AVN Awards from 1986–1998.The award recipients...

 nominations; his film Whiplash tied with Pacific Sun Entertainment’s Double Delights for the 2005 GayVN Award for “Best Specialty Release.” Dragon has served as director, videographer, producer, and editor for his own company’s films and has also directed for Titan Media and edited for Lucas Entertainment

Lucas Entertainment

Lucas Entertainment is a New York-based gay pornographic studio started by porn star Michael Lucas. It is one of the largest such studios in the world. The studio is known for lavish, big-budget movies, and it contends that its 2006 film Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita is the most expensive gay porn...

.

Fashion design

Dragon’s fashion label—founded in 1990 with only US$1,500 and a collection of sample fabrics—found an initial niche in the gay community

Gay community

The gay community, or LGBT community, is a loosely defined grouping of LGBT and LGBT-supportive people, organizations and subcultures, united by a common culture and civil rights movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individuality, and sexuality...

. Designing sportswear

Sportswear

Sportswear or activewear is clothing, including footwear, worn for sport or physical exercise. Sport-specific clothing is worn for most sports and physical exercise, for practical, comfort or safety reasons....

 that accentuated the male physique

Bodybuilding

Bodybuilding is a form of body modification involving intensive muscle hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. In competitive and professional bodybuilding, bodybuilders display their physiques to a panel of judges, who assign points based on their...

, his fashions were often considered homoerotic

Homoeroticism

Homoeroticism refers to the erotic attraction between members of the same sex, either male–male or female–female , most especially as it is depicted or manifested in the visual arts and literature. It can also be found in performative forms; from theatre to the theatricality of uniformed movements...

; he was later recognized as an industry leader for introducing stretch fabrics to men’s fashion.

Gaining popularity in a wider audience, Dragon’s line appeared in magazines such as Details

Details (magazine)

Details is an American monthly men's magazine published by Condé Nast Publications, founded in 1982. Though primarily a magazine devoted to fashion and lifestyle, Details also features reports on relevant social and political issues.-History:...

 , Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair (magazine)

Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...

, The New York Times Magazine

The New York Times Magazine

The New York Times Magazine is a Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of The New York Times. It is host to feature articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors...

, Cosmopolitan

Cosmopolitan (magazine)

Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...

, Detour, Out

Out (magazine)

Out is a popular gay and lesbian fashion, entertainment, and lifestyle magazine, with the highest circulation of any gay monthly publication in the United States. It carries itself in a similar editorial manner to Details, Esquire, and GQ. Out was published by PlanetOut Inc...

, Ocean Drive

Ocean Drive (magazine)

Ocean Drive is a magazine that reports on fashion, society, entertainment and celebrities in Miami Beach, Florida, in the United States. The magazine has been referred to as "the Bible of South Beach" due to its coverage of nightlife and VIPs. Suzy Buckley is the Editor in Chief. The magazine's...

, Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

, Spy

Spy (magazine)

Spy was a satirical monthly magazine founded in 1986 by Kurt Andersen and E. Graydon Carter, who served as its first editors, and Thomas L. Phillips, Jr., its first publisher. After one folding and a rebirth, it ceased publication in 1998...

, The Advocate

The Advocate

The Advocate is an American LGBT-interest magazine, printed monthly and available by subscription. The Advocate brand also includes a web site. Both magazine and web site have an editorial focus on news, politics, opinion, and arts and entertainment of interest to LGBT people...

, and several exercise and fitness magazines. His clients have included such notables as Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise

Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....

, Gregory Hines

Gregory Hines

Gregory Oliver Hines was an American actor, singer, dancer and choreographer.-Early years:Born in New York City, Hines and his older brother Maurice started dancing at an early age, studying with choreographer Henry LeTang...

, and Aaron Neville

Aaron Neville

Aaron Neville is an American soul and R&B singer and musician. He has had four top-20 hits in the United States along with four platinum-certified albums...

.

Dragon’s creations have appeared on Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 in productions of Rent

Rent (musical)

Rent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème...

, Chicago

Chicago (musical)

Chicago is a musical set in Prohibition-era Chicago. The music is by John Kander with lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal"...

, and Fosse

Fosse

Fosse is a three-act musical revue showcasing the choreography of Bob Fosse. After 21 previews, the original Broadway production, conceived and directed by Richard Maltby, Jr...

. Among others, the Alvin Ailey

Alvin Ailey

Alvin Ailey, Jr. was an American choreographer and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York. Ailey is credited with popularizing modern dance and revolutionizing African-American participation in 20th century concert dance...

 and Martha Graham

Martha Graham

Martha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer whose influence on dance has been compared with the influence Picasso had on modern visual arts, Stravinsky had on music, or Frank Lloyd Wright had on architecture.She danced and choreographed for over seventy years...

 dance companies have used his clothes for costumes, as have the Royal Copenhagen Ballet and the Frankfurt Ballet. Dragon has also designed costumes for ice skating

Ice skating

Ice skating is moving on ice by using ice skates. It can be done for a variety of reasons, including leisure, traveling, and various sports. Ice skating occurs both on specially prepared indoor and outdoor tracks, as well as on naturally occurring bodies of frozen water, such as lakes and...

 shows, and his costumes for an off-Broadway production won critical acclaim in The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

. His swimsuit collection has recently been relaunched at raymonddragon.com.

As a photographer, Dragon has published an 80-page collection of photographs of nude and partially nude men, Real Men. The book also contains the information that Dragon has been in a steady relationship with his partner, Tim Cass, since 1989.

In 2001, Ray sat for a revealing interview with freelance writer Rod Labbe. Entitled “Dangerous Man,” it can be found on Ray’s website at: http://www.RayDragon.com/editorial/interview.html.

Select videography

• Lifeguard! The Men Of Deep Water Beach (2006)
• 110° in Tucson (2005)
• Big Blue in the Boiler Room (2005)
• Couples II: More Colt Men on the Make (2004)
• Hookups (2006)
• Whiplash (2004)

Cinematographer

• Auditions: Volume 4 (2005)
• Hell Room (2005)
• Joe Gage Sex Files Vol. 4: Blue Collar Beer Blast (2004)
• Prowl 4: Back with a Vengeance (2005)
• Prowl 5: As Rough as It Gets (2005)
• Tough Guys: Gettin' Off (2005)

Director

• The Dragon Files - In the Basement (2010)
• The Good, The Bad & The Nasty (2010)
• Dickflix (2008)
• Big Blue in the Boiler Room (2005)
• Porn Star Training (2003)
• Whiplash (2004)

Producer

• Jock Park (2010)
• The Good, The Bad & The Nasty (2010)
• Dad Takes a Fishing Trip (2009)
• Dickflix (2008)
• Whiplash (2002)

Editor

• Truck Stop on I-95 (2004)

See also

• List of pornographic movie studios
• List of male performers in gay porn films
• List of pornographic magazines
• List of LGBT publications

External links