Drawing inspiration from John Coplans and his many images where he used his assistant to photograph parts of his own body, I decided during my recent male art nude shoots to consider body parts as abstract images.
Like Coplans, I chose to produce images that do not necessarily communicate the messages we expect from art nude images – the poses are sometimes awkward and odd, which is my specialty. I decided to only shoot fragments of bodies and to exclude the face as much as possible. The takes away from the personality of the model and concentrates on the shapes and textures in their bodies. It is still considered almost taboo to display images of a naked male body, and I intend to exhibit the work when it is resolved.
Below are the initial edits from the many shoots I have done. Some of these will form my work in progress portfolio at the end of this module.
The images have been edited to increase clarity and hence increase texture and definition in the resultant images. The images were also converted to monochrome so that the focus is not distracted by colours.
Figure 1: Sutherst. 2017
The models I have used this far, vary dramatically in body shape and size. We tend to think that older or larger bodies are again another taboo topic. Many art nude models are youthful and slim. I have challenged this and will continue to challenge this perception. Humans are imperfect, yet we tend to be shown only perfect nude bodies, which only makes us feel less than perfect. More shoots are planned where I will be considering and exploring the textures and shapes in human bodies. I also will be investigating the differences in shapes and textures between male and female bodies.
I will celebrate the imperfections in bodies and show them for all their beauty. I am really excited about this development and looking forward to my planned exploration over the next couple of months.
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