Keith Munyan
Encyclopedia
Keith Owen Munyan, Jr. is a commercial photographer based in North Hollywood, California
, whose client list includes, among others, Hilary Duff
, Jessica Simpson
, and Cindy Crawford
. His work has appeared in magazine
s, album packaging, books, billboard
s, and calendar
s. Munyan takes assignments only by referrals and does not advertise.
For fifteen years before he became a photographer, Munyan was a model
. He has appeared in the television programs Extra
, Hard Copy
, and Access Hollywood
. He was featured on various calendars and on billboards for Budweiser Light
and Diet Coke
, acted in commercials, and modeled swimsuit
s. He also modeled nude for Playgirl
.
, the seat of Vernon Parish in western Louisiana and the home of the United States Army
base at nearby Fort Polk. His father, Keith "Moose" Munyan, Sr. (September 6, 1932 - July 8, 1996), a native of Jackson, Ohio
, coached in Leesville from 1959–1963. When Keith was two years of age, his family moved to the village of Mangham
in Richland Parish in northeastern Louisiana
. The senior Munyan coached football
, basketball
, and baseball
at tiny Mangham High School from 1963-1989. Football teams under Coach Munyan compiled an outstanding record of 204 wins, 78 losses, and 6 ties. He led his Mangham Dragons to sixteen district championships and was selected "District Coach of the Year" on eighteen occasions. In 2003, Coach Munyan was named posthumously into the Louisiana High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame.
Munyan played football for four years (1975–1978 seasons) under his father's tutelage as well as basketball and baseball. His mother, the former Lucille Carter (born December 31, 1931), is a native of Hattiesburg, Mississippi
, and a retiree of the federal agency, the Farmers Home Administration
, in Mangham. Munyan, who is single, has two sisters, both of whom are veteran educators: Toby M. Butler (born 1955) and husband Michael Kent Butler (born 1954) of Mangham and Debbie M. Price (born 1957) and husband George Allen Price, Jr. (born 1956), of Winnsboro
, the seat of nearby Franklin Parish.
After high school, Munyan attended the University of Louisiana at Monroe
(then Northeast Louisiana University) but did not graduate. He then became a decorator for a department store
in Dallas, Texas
, prior to launching his modeling career, which entailed travel, including a trip as far away as Barcelona, Spain.
Munyan once photographed Beth Broderick
, who played Aunt Zelda on ABC
's Sabrina the Teenage Witch. The program used all of his photographs, and the assignment led to new clients: Jessica Simpson, Cindy Crawford, Hilary Duff, Carmen Electra
, Rachel Melvin
of NBC
's Days of our Lives
, and Kelly Clarkson
. In photographs of Melvin for Agenda magazine, Munyan used dead yucca
trees that he had procured from his own property. Often he finds that various kinds of wood enhance the photographs.
Munyan said that proper lighting is essential to good photographs: "I've learned how to adjust my lighting around my clients. I figure out how to make it hotter, warmer, darker, depending on their skin tones, their hair, their makeup. . . . "
program on Fox. Another client is Mackenzie Rosman
, who played Ruthie Camden on the former 7th Heaven
series.
Munyan said that in working with celebrities, he asks them to think of the people that they love or about their pets. He said that most celebrities are pleasant to photograph, but occasionally there are clock-watchers eager to be elsewhere. He recalled shooting an unnamed model for the trade publication Sophisticated Hair who became so impatient that she threatened to walk out of the shoot. He had to convince her that she had to remain patient in his studio because she needed excellent photographs for the magazine.
Munyan has also photographed male models for such publications as Men's Workout magazine.
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, whose client list includes, among others, Hilary Duff
Hilary Duff
Hilary Erhard Duff is an American actress, singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, and author. After working in local theater plays and television commercials in her childhood, she achieved fame playing the title role in the Disney Channel television series Lizzie McGuire. She also reprised her role in...
, Jessica Simpson
Jessica Simpson
Jessica Ann Simpson is an American recording artist, actress, television personality, and fashion designer whose rise to fame began in 1999. Since that time, Simpson has achieved many recording milestones, starred in several television shows, movies, and commercials, launched a line of hair and...
, and Cindy Crawford
Cindy Crawford
Cynthia Ann "Cindy" Crawford is an American model. Known for her trademark mole just above her lip, Crawford has adorned hundreds of magazine covers throughout her career. She was named #3 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of the 90s...
. His work has appeared in magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
s, album packaging, books, billboard
Billboard (advertising)
A billboard is a large outdoor advertising structure , typically found in high traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertisements to passing pedestrians and drivers...
s, and calendar
Calendar
A calendar is a system of organizing days for social, religious, commercial, or administrative purposes. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months, and years. The name given to each day is known as a date. Periods in a calendar are usually, though not...
s. Munyan takes assignments only by referrals and does not advertise.
For fifteen years before he became a photographer, Munyan was a model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
. He has appeared in the television programs Extra
Extra (TV series)
Extra is an American entertainment television news program covering events and celebrities which debuted on September 5, 1994 in syndication. It is produced at Victory Studios in Glendale, California by Telepictures Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television Distribution...
, Hard Copy
Hard Copy
Hard Copy is an American tabloid news television show that ran in syndication from 1989 to 1999. Hard Copy was aggressive in its use of questionable material on television, including gratuitous violence....
, and Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood is a weekday television entertainment news program covering events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was created by former Entertainment Tonight executive producer Jim Van Messel, and is currently directed by Robert Silverstein. In previous years, Doug Dougherty and...
. He was featured on various calendars and on billboards for Budweiser Light
Budweiser (Anheuser-Busch)
Budweiser is a 5.0% abv American-style lager introduced in 1876 by Adolphus Busch and one of the highest selling beers in the United States. It is made with up to 30% rice in addition to hops and barley malt. Budweiser is produced in various breweries located around the world...
and Diet Coke
Diet Coke
Diet Coke is a sugar-free soft drink produced and distributed by The Coca-Cola Company. It was first introduced in the United States on August 9, 1982, as the first new brand since 1886 to use the Coca-Cola trademark...
, acted in commercials, and modeled swimsuit
Swimsuit
A swimsuit, bathing suit, or swimming costume is an item of clothing designed to be worn by men, women or children while they are engaging in a water-based activity or water sports, such as swimming, water polo, diving, surfing, water skiing, or during activities in the sun, such as sun bathing.A...
s. He also modeled nude for Playgirl
Playgirl
Playgirl is a print quarterly adult magazine published in the United States that is marketed mainly to heterosexual women, but has also gained a considerable gay following...
.
Early years in Louisiana
Munyan was born in LeesvilleLeesville, Louisiana
Leesville is a city in and the parish seat of Vernon Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 6,753 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Fort Polk South Micropolitan Statistical Area. The city is home to the Fort Polk U.S. Army installation...
, the seat of Vernon Parish in western Louisiana and the home of the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
base at nearby Fort Polk. His father, Keith "Moose" Munyan, Sr. (September 6, 1932 - July 8, 1996), a native of Jackson, Ohio
Jackson, Ohio
Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Ohio, United States. The population was 6,184 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Jackson is located at ....
, coached in Leesville from 1959–1963. When Keith was two years of age, his family moved to the village of Mangham
Mangham, Louisiana
Mangham is a village in Richland Parish in northeastern Louisiana, United States. The population was 595 at the 2000 census. Mangham was established in 1890. It is named for Wyley P...
in Richland Parish in northeastern Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. The senior Munyan coached football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, and baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
at tiny Mangham High School from 1963-1989. Football teams under Coach Munyan compiled an outstanding record of 204 wins, 78 losses, and 6 ties. He led his Mangham Dragons to sixteen district championships and was selected "District Coach of the Year" on eighteen occasions. In 2003, Coach Munyan was named posthumously into the Louisiana High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame.
Munyan played football for four years (1975–1978 seasons) under his father's tutelage as well as basketball and baseball. His mother, the former Lucille Carter (born December 31, 1931), is a native of Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Hattiesburg is a city in Forrest County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 44,779 at the 2000 census . It is the county seat of Forrest County...
, and a retiree of the federal agency, the Farmers Home Administration
Farm Security Administration
Initially created as the Resettlement Administration in 1935 as part of the New Deal in the United States, the Farm Security Administration was an effort during the Depression to combat American rural poverty...
, in Mangham. Munyan, who is single, has two sisters, both of whom are veteran educators: Toby M. Butler (born 1955) and husband Michael Kent Butler (born 1954) of Mangham and Debbie M. Price (born 1957) and husband George Allen Price, Jr. (born 1956), of Winnsboro
Winnsboro, Louisiana
Winnsboro is a city in and the parish seat of Franklin Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of July 2009, the estimated city population was 4,377...
, the seat of nearby Franklin Parish.
After high school, Munyan attended the University of Louisiana at Monroe
University of Louisiana at Monroe
The University of Louisiana at Monroe is a coeducational public university in Monroe, Louisiana and part of the University of Louisiana System.-History:...
(then Northeast Louisiana University) but did not graduate. He then became a decorator for a department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
in Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, prior to launching his modeling career, which entailed travel, including a trip as far away as Barcelona, Spain.
Self-educated photographer
Munyan is self-educated as a photographer. His experience as a model helped him to make the transition because while he was being photographed over the years, he "listened a lot regarding lighting and shooting. I found it easier for me because I enjoyed working with people." Munyan described patience as "the key to photography. Don't rush." He indicated that he is innovative and will "try anything, because I'm not always right. . . . "Munyan once photographed Beth Broderick
Beth Broderick
Elizabeth Alice "Beth" Broderick is an American actress famous for her portrayal of the character Zelda Spellman in the television sitcom Sabrina, the Teenage Witch from 1996–2003 on ABC and then the Warner Bros. network.-Early life:Broderick was born in Falmouth, Kentucky and grew up in...
, who played Aunt Zelda on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Sabrina the Teenage Witch. The program used all of his photographs, and the assignment led to new clients: Jessica Simpson, Cindy Crawford, Hilary Duff, Carmen Electra
Carmen Electra
Tara Leigh Patrick , professionally known as Carmen Electra, is an American glamour model, actress, television personality, singer, and dancer...
, Rachel Melvin
Rachel Melvin
Rachel Melvin is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Chelsea Brady on Days of our Lives .- Personal life :...
of NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...
, and Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Brianne Clarkson is an American pop rock singer-songwriter and actress. Clarkson came into prominence after becoming the winner of the inaugural season of the television series American Idol in 2002 and would later become the runner-up in the television special World Idol in 2003.In 2003,...
. In photographs of Melvin for Agenda magazine, Munyan used dead yucca
Yucca
Yucca is a genus of perennial shrubs and trees in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40-50 species are notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large terminal panicles of white or whitish flowers. They are native to the hot and dry parts of North...
trees that he had procured from his own property. Often he finds that various kinds of wood enhance the photographs.
Munyan said that proper lighting is essential to good photographs: "I've learned how to adjust my lighting around my clients. I figure out how to make it hotter, warmer, darker, depending on their skin tones, their hair, their makeup. . . . "
Celebrity clients
Kelly Clarkson was photographed in 2004 as the first ever winner in the American IdolAmerican Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
program on Fox. Another client is Mackenzie Rosman
Mackenzie Rosman
Mackenzie Lyn Rosman is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her television role as Ruthie Camden on The WB/The CW's longest-running show 7th Heaven.- Personal life :Rosman was born in Charleston, South Carolina....
, who played Ruthie Camden on the former 7th Heaven
7th Heaven
7th Heaven is an American family drama television series, created and produced by Brenda Hampton. The series premiered on August 26, 1996, on the WB, the first time that the network aired Monday night programming, and was originally broadcast from August 26, 1996 to May 13, 2007...
series.
Munyan said that in working with celebrities, he asks them to think of the people that they love or about their pets. He said that most celebrities are pleasant to photograph, but occasionally there are clock-watchers eager to be elsewhere. He recalled shooting an unnamed model for the trade publication Sophisticated Hair who became so impatient that she threatened to walk out of the shoot. He had to convince her that she had to remain patient in his studio because she needed excellent photographs for the magazine.
Munyan has also photographed male models for such publications as Men's Workout magazine.