Arny Freytag

Who is Arny Freytag?

Arny Freytag is an American photographer who specializes in glamour photography. He began working for Playboy magazine in 1976 and at one time was one of only two photographers who produced the Playboy centerfold photographs.

Freytag grew up in Chicago Illinois, attending Sutherland grammar school and Luther South High School. He graduated from the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts in 1970, and from Brooks Institute of Photography in 1974. After an initial period as an apprentice at Playboy, he joined Mario Caselli, Richard Fegley, and Ken Marcus as the principal photographers at Playboy’s California studio.

During his studies at Brooks, Freytag became proficient with the 4”x5” view camera, a skill that served him well shooting the monthly multi-page Playboy centerfold. Attempting to produce the very highest quality possible for the centerfold image, Playboy used the very large 8"x10” view camera. Due to the amount of strobe light needed to expose that large a sheet of film, Freytag, at first of necessity and later by choice, specialized in the use of elaborate lighting setups, often using dozens of flash heads.