Stephen Mosher (photographer)


Stephen Mosher is an American photographer and activist whose photos appear Playbill Magazine and in The Sweater Book.

Personal life

Mosher was born in Dallas, Texas to a businessman and an artist. He is the second of four children and was schooled in Europe: first, in Portugal at the schools St. Dominics and St. Columbans; later, in Switzerland at The International School of Zurich and The International School of Berne. Mosher returned to America in 1982 and attended Tarrant County Junior College and North Texas State University, where he met his husband, Pat Dwyer, in 1985. In 1993 the couple relocated from Texas to New York City, where they continue to reside.

Career

Photography

Mosher's childhood dream of being an actor was detoured in 1988, when he decided to stop performing and make his hobby of photography his career focus. While living in Dallas, Mosher worked doing pictures in the local theater scene; headshots, publicity stills, performance photos. In 1993, he and Dwyer moved to New York so that Mosher could focus on a project called The Sweater Book. The project was a collection of photos of people wearing the same cardigan sweater. It was Mosher's ambition to publish the collection in book form and to donate the money he made to AIDS/HIV charities. In 2003 The Sweater Book was published by Thomas Dunne Books. The collection features photos of hundreds of people, including Whoopi Goldberg, Laura Linney, Glenn Close, Christopher Meloni, Noah Wyle, Maggie Smith, Jason Alexander, Stephen Collins, Sela Ward, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jane Krakowski, Hugh Laurie, Kristin Chenoweth, Bryan Cranston, Swoosie Kurtz, Tim Allen, Loretta Devine, Ryan Phillippe, Mary Steenburgen, Ted Dansen, Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker, Carol Burnett and many more. During his time working on The Sweater Book, Mosher was bicoastal, working in New York and Hollywood where he became staff photographer for Noah Wyle's Blank Theatre Company.
Aside from the Sweater Book, Mosher spent the 1990s photographing performers such as Deborah Cox, Kristine W., Anita Gillette, Christian Campbell, Eli Wallach, David Alan Basche, Nora Dunn, Gregory Jbara, Diahann Carroll, Mireille Enos, Paul Anthony Stewart, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Alfie Boe, Drea de Matteo, Jennifer Lopez, Matthew Morrison, Alan Cumming, Jason Scott Lee, Jennifer Holliday, Chita Rivera, Carole King, Petula Clark, Helen Reddy, Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleason, Donna Murphy and Judi Dench.
After the publication of The Sweater Book, Mosher took time off from his photography to focus on his interests in health, fitness and blogging. He returned to photography work in 2010 and continues to blog about topics including the arts, weight loss, body building, photography, spirituality, addiction.
In 2016 Stephen Mosher published a memoir titled Lived in Crazy about his life, his family and the creation of The Sweater Book.
In 2017 Mosher made his New York City nightclub debut at famed night spot Don't Tell Mama. In the 80 minute show titled The Story Teller he told about his life in song and stories. In Cabaret Scenes Magazine, journalist Bart Greenberg declared the show a "surprising cabaret debut" and praised Mosher's "pleasant voice that flowed between a whiskey tenor and a Bea Arthur baritone."

Other

In 2014 Mosher completed his course of study and is now an ACE Certified Personal Trainer and an American Red Cross Certified Lifeguard. From 2013 to 2017 Mosher was a contributing columnist for the internet magazine EDGE, as well as providing content for the website, on the subject of Health and Fitness.
Mosher had, for six years, a career in event coordination, executing parties and weddings.

Activism

In 2011, Mosher and his husband, Pat Dwyer, celebrated 25 years together by traveling to every jurisdiction in America where same sex marriage is legal and getting married. Their adventure was captured by filmmaker Allan Piper and was being turned into the documentary Married and Counting. Mosher and Dwyer hoped to use the film and their YouTube channel to help promote gay rights and marriage equality. The film, Married and Counting is narrated by George Takei and features original music by Jennifer Houston and had its premiere in 2013.