PHOTO STORY: koitz’s Photo Shoot for the DWorld Underwear Party on a Freezing Day on Fire Island

Back in the day, the models for the flyers for Daniel Nardicio's DWorld Fire Island Underwear Party were photographed right there on the island. Queer nightlife photographer koitz was behind the camera for several of those shoots.

But there’s one he remembers especially well: May 15th, 2016.

Male model in their underwear photographed on Fire Island for Underwear Party FlyersMale model in their underwear photographed on Fire Island by koitz for Underwear Party Flyers for the summer or 2016

It was supposed to be a warm spring day, a preview of the summer to come. Instead, Fire Island greeted the models with bitter cold.

And once you’re on an island, there’s not much room for Plan B. Sending the models home wasn’t really an option. So the shoot went ahead.

If you were on Fire Island that summer, you probably remember seeing the photograph at the top on the party flyers.

But there’s another photograph—taken just moments before this one. It’s what photographers call a lighting test shot.

Look closely at the models’ faces. You can almost feel the cold. It was so cold that only four of them showed up that day.

Male modes lighting test on Fire Island for Underwear Party FlyersMale models lighting test on Fire Island for Underwear Party Flyers Summer of 2016

The rest of the crew was bundled up in sweaters and jackets. Meanwhile, these poor guys had to strip down to their underwear and pretend they were basking in the middle of a warm summer day.

The sky, however, wasn’t exactly cooperating.

Look at those clouds.

Still, the models were fantastic. They posed, they smiled, they played along—and somehow, they made the whole thing look effortless. You’d never know they were freezing.

We felt terrible for them.

Male Model in his Underwear Photographed by koitz on Fire Island for Underwear Party FlyerMale model in his underwear photographed by koitz on Fire Island for Underwear Party Flyer for the summer of 2016

When the shoot was finally over, they headed back to the house, jumped straight into the jacuzzi, and warmed themselves up.

Of course, we took a few more photographs.

After all, there were flyers to make.

Flyers for DWorld Fire Island Underwear Party Summer of 2016Flyers for DWorld Fire Island Underwear Party, Summer of 2016