The Andy Aupperlee Explosion 5000

This is Movember, the month formerly known as November. Movember is a month long celebration of all things mustache. Specifically, men are encouraged to grow out the legendary facial hair style to raise awareness about prostate and testicular cancer. The man pictured above, Aaron Huber, organized a team of about twenty of us to participate in this year’s antics. Mo-bros join the team by setting up a profile on the official Movember website. Mustache fans can donate to individual team members by visiting his or her Mo-space page. The Movember organization partners with The Prostate Cancer Foundation and LIVESTRONG to make sure the donations help “change the face of men’s health.”

Several weeks ago I talked to Aaron about ways to raise awareness of Movember. I offered to take portraits of the folks on our team, post the photos and throw up a blurb on the Explosion. On Tuesday night the MOst MOmentous MOs (our team’s name) got together for a photo shoot at Aaron’s place. I constructed a full blown photo studio to capture the essence of the “mo.” Aaron and I encouraged our mo-mates to dress up for the evening, but I never expected the passion I witnessed on Tuesday night. The props, costumes and utter ridiculousness that ensued would even make Tom Selleck blush. What follows below is the evidence of this “Mo-plosion.”

Mo-mate: Adam
Always the party starter, Adam was first up in the photo shoot. In between swigs of PBR, Adam ambitiously showed off all kinds of cheezy golf-pro-esque looks. If you’re digging this look, donate to Adam by visiting his Mo-space.

Mo-mate: B Cox
Brandon, AKA B Cox, brought the thunder. Since I grew up in Michigan, I was totally comfortable photographing B Cox and his piece (that is, his gun). In fact, I’m not even sure if that’s B Cox—it totally could be a 1980s version of my awesome mustahce’d Uncle Gary on Opening Day. If you love firearms as much as Brandon and I do, consider donating to Movember via his page.

Mo-mate: B-Rowe
B-Rowe (born Brian Rowe) was probably the toughest to mo-tograph. Not that he was camera shy or anything, it’s that he was literally bouncing off the walls. He did the White Trash Nation proud with his earnest portrayal of a Duff drinking hick, but as you’ll see later, he only got more mo-diculous. Donate to him now or donate to him later, but once you see what he did to his body, you’ll be completely mo-pelled to throw some change his way.

Mo-mate: John
Somtimes mos just like to kick back and enjoy a frothy beverage. John is demonstrating here how the mustache works as a “second flavor taster” (a term coined by the 1980s and 1990s mustached version of my dad). Donate to John here.

Mo-mate: Mike
Holy twelve sided die! Mike really brought the creep. The great thing about Movember is that even a good looking, non-threating bro like Mike can transform himself into an utterly skeezy character. I think at one point I gave him the direction to pretend he was looking through a peephole into a ladie’s restroom. I think we can all agree he delivered!

Mo-mate: Brian
As fun as the mo can be, it also has a badass side. I would not want to mess with this dude in an alley or at a Guns ‘n Roses concert. If you find this intimidating, you can donate to Brian here and pray that he doesn’t come and kick your ass Chuck Norris style.

Mo-mate: Aaron
Need a used car? Look no further. Not only did Aaron organize the MOst MOmentous MOs, he hosted the photo shoot and had time to get extra skeezy. If you’re not in the market for a 1985 El Camino (Aaron sells only the best), at least consider throwing this grease-ball a bone and donate to Movember.

Mo-mate: Mo Sistas
Mo bros would be nowhere without their mo sistas. If anyone really has to be “understanding” about the decision to grow a mo, it’s the ladies in our lives. Alli, McKenna and Annie are all about supporting Movember. Two of them have even stopped shaving their legs this month—way to go, gals! If the dudes here are just a little too Freddie Mercury for you, consider donating to Alli or Annie.

If I haven’t convinced you by now that Movember is worth your consideration, this should do it. Inspired by the theme of the month, B Rowe shaved a mustache into his chest hair. He did this during the photo shoot. I try to keep the Andy Aupperlee Explosion 5000 safe-fer-yer-office, but I highly suggest you cruise over to Flickr to see B-Rowe give the camera a few different looks.

Big thank you to everyone that modeled, helped with gear and hung out during the shoot. In addition to the folks you see on camera, we had another half dozen Movember fans shaving B-Rowes chest, calling out motivation to the models and drinking beers while we worked to “change the face of men’s health.” I had a blast shooting everyone and I’m stoked to see what we can do in the final weeks of Movember. If you enjoyed this post, please cruise over to mine or anyone’s Movember profile and put your MOney where your MOuse is.

If you are still craving some MOre, check out my Flickr gallery or watch the slideshow below. There are a total of 50 mo-tacular photos for your entertainment. If you’re interested in how I photographed this mo-plosion, check out this setup shot.