Keith Owen Munyan, Junior., is a commercial photographer based in North Hollywood, California, whose client list includes, among others, Hilary Duff, Jessica Simpson, and Cindy Crawford.
Background
Munyan was born in Leesville, 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, Senior (September 6, 1932 - July 8, 1996), a native of Jackson, Ohio, coached in Leesville from 1959–1963.
Education
University of Louisiana at Monroe.
Career
His work has appeared in magazines, album packaging, books, billboards, and calendars. Munyan takes assignments only by referrals and does not advertise. Foreign 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 swimsuits. He also modeled nude for Playgirl.
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.
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.
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 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, who played Aunt Zelda on American Broadcasting Company"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 National Broadcasting Company"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.
. "
Another client is Mackenzie Rosman, who played Ruthie Camden on the former 7th Heaven series Munyan has also photographed male models for such publications as Men"s Workout magazine.