The Dirty 30: Chuck Holliday
He's been labeled one of the most controversial yet polarizing photographers in the urban modeling industry for reasons that can be debated forever. But to us, he is just simply the goofy but truthful Founder of Avenue 1 and protagonist of his own reality series, "Holliworld."
So obviously when we approached the self-described 'geek without the college words' for "The Dirty 30," the answer was given in less than one second.



Lets go inside the mind of Chuck Holliday - what are you mostly thinking of when you are not doing photography?
Depends on what party I'm at and how the women are looking after a few drinks, haha. But you'll never see me thinking about photography if I'm not at work. The party is my playground. Too bad some of the people there to play can barely walk properly.


What do you mean by walk properly? Does it have anything to do with...
The one turn-off that dudes have is when women can't walk in their heels. I just shed a tear after watching the movie "I Think I Love My Wife" because Kerry Washington is in a few scenes walking down the street and she's wobbling in her heels bad. When you are wobbling in them, you don't walk with any swagger, and also half of them look like they're in pain. Try getting a thought about somebody who looks like they need that bathroom fast!


Now we all know that when it comes to the photographers based in New York City, you are often criticized for what others perceive as your lack of mastering the profession, but yet you seem to remain busy and often in the spotlight, whether it's for reasons good or bad. How is that?
The hell if I know. I don't really want to be the hottest or best. I was taught a few years ago that no matter how good or bad you may be, if you are intriguing and can give your client exactly what they want, you will always make money regardless, and I've definitely made alot of that many times over. I just know that if you have 5 dogs standing in a line from far away, and 4 of them are good dogs but aren't engaging enough, but that 1 dog that's not as good barks and knows how to interact, that's the one that people will identify with. I also learned that ownership of your brand and catalog is key, and I take pride in ownership, more than I do being a great photographer.


Would you ever have appeared on "I Love New York?"
Hells yeah! I don't think that babe is as bad as she appears. I mean, she is a train wreck and her respect level is atrocious, but who knows. She's not anymore different than some of the singers and models out there. The only difference is she's being filmed without a script, while others are just told what to say that's politically correct. Okay, I'm joking, I'd never ever go on that show, and she seems like the type you just continue to press the ignore button when she calls.


What defines a sexy woman to you?
Definitely when she is in a zone where she feels good, and knows why she is wearing what she is wearing for the place she's wearing it at. Rocking a pair of whore boots near the knee doesn't hurt either. In my opinion, wearing less doesn't always make you sexy, because I've seen some women with barely anything on and there is nothing sexy about them at all. You can't just buy sexy off the rack for 20% off.


What's the one sign when you are in a club with a female that you know you can take them home with you?
While they are drinking and after a while, they just kinda give you this blank look for a few seconds, then after a while, they begin the whole "I normally wouldn't do this but...." line out of nowhere. You know they're not inviting you over to show her how to pour water into a cup. I had some random chick give me the whole "we won't f@#k and I won't s*&k your #%^& but I want you to come spend the night" thing, and it was funny to see that speech given ahead of time while drunk.


You are a die-hard NY Knicks and NY Yankees fan. Both teams are doing very poorly right now. What do they need to do in order to improve?
The Knicks are on the right path with the new management so they're straight. Stephon Marbury can't be traded for a sack of oranges at this point, and I've seen dry syrup on a cold pancake that moves faster than Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph, but otherwise, they can improve. As for the Yankees, Jason Giambi had to wear a thong to get out of his recent slump, so that's not a good sign of the season. As long as they beat the Red Sox, that's all that matters.


It's no secret you're often around alot of a@# and t@#%*&s all day, which other men consider a dream job. Is there any part of that job of seeing a@# and t@#%*&s that you don't like?
I mean, it's an okay job. I won't sit here and say that it's a dream job but I can understand the average dude because they see the visual of it all and just figure all you do is take a bunch of pictures of some half-naked women, but in reality there is so much to deal with. Most of them worry about the stupidest of things, and its annoying when you need them to just stand in front of the camera.


Speaking of that, the perception is always that photographers are having some sort of sexual affairs with their modeling counterparts. How much of that is is true, and are they that easy to get in bed?
You're asking the wrong person because I don't get down with any of them on that level. It's just a job to me at the end of the day. I can say that it's mostly talk as far as the whole photographers sleeping with the models thing because most of the photographers are either just wacked out to the point of no return, or they are more of gossip catty than the models are. Alot of the black photographers gossip so bad to the point where if you are a female in that business, you might bang one of them out and everybody will know before you even put your underwear back on. Some of them feel that by f%#king a model or two, their profile boosts up or they are that much more better. Athletes bang them out by just showing up, so it's nothing to brag about.


You have a reputation in the business for not being shy from speaking your mind and your criticism of modeling talent. Do you think that it's because others are scared to speak or because it could be the truth?
Honestly, it's more of the former. Granted, it's likely the truth, but that's not the reason why they start acting like babies - it's because alot of them are often scared to speak their minds in public so they resort to just doing it on stuff like Instant Messenger and stuff. I'm never on Instant Messenger like that, so I don't relate to them.


What do you think about the whole Angel Lola controversy with the possible enhancements debate?
It's actually wild because I'm not going to speculate on whether it's real or not but I think that it's one of those debates that will never die. I think she works harder than nearly most of the urban models out there, and that's also some of the reason for her big run, not just that behind.


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