Jean-Daniel Cadinot

Jean Daniel Cadinot (February 10, 1944 – April 23, 2008) was a French photographer, director and producer of gay pornographic films.

Cadinot was born during World War II, in German-occupied Paris, in the Montmartre hill area of the Batignoles Quarter. His parents were tailors who custom fit clothes.Cadinot later remarked that while his parents had clothed men, he earned his reputation for undressing them.

As a teenager, Cadinot hoped to become a painter and, due to parental opposition, ran away from home at the age of 17. In the early 1960s, he studied at École des Arts et Métiers and at the National School of Photography. He then began his professional career at Valois Studios, where he directed mainstream films for French-speaking audiences.

He first pursued a career in photography, which took on a homosexual angle with his nude portrait of writer Yves Navarre and singer Patrick Juvet. His erotic photographs appeared in the first edition of Gai Pied. He began to sell nude photographs and finally moved to directing movies in 1978. By then, he had published 17 photo albums, with total sales of over 170,000 copies.

Setting up his own production company, French Art, Cadinot made dozens of 16 mm films.