When starting this module, as one of 3 areas I wanted to explore, I was considering the gaze I use when shooting a male nude. Throughout the module I have been considering this and what the gazes mean to me when shooting.
Figure 1: Female Gaze
I have determined that when I shoot with a female gaze, I tend to concentrate predominantly on shapes and form. The poses are gentle and do not challenge the viewer, as the penis is often not visible, and nudity is implied and not explicit.
Figure 2: Male Gaze
When I shoot with a male gaze, my images show the model as strong and powerful. His muscles become the main focus of the image and the penis, whilst visible is often almost irrelevant.
Figure 3: Gay Gaze
And when I shoot with a gay gaze, my images tend to concentrate on the prominence of the penis in the image and often have humour running through them. These images can sometimes have a direct sexual content through positioning and pose.
Before I explored this through practical work, I was not able to identify which gaze I was using for images. I am now able to determine the gaze and easily explain it to someone else (which was very useful in the workshop session).
Obviously, there are those who will look at the gaze in each image and interpret it differently, and that is what makes photography so exciting. i look forward to exploring this further.
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