LIBERATION THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY
Over the last year, I shot these black and white images on film as a sociological study of men and the ability to express emotions. Photography is the result of the visual dialogue of the subject and the lens.
As men, there is an expectation to portray a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles that display strong, nonemotional character.
Sociologists think of masculinity as something socially constructed, while others recognize the influence of both factors, biology, and culture.
Javi | Los Angeles, CA.
Javi | Los Angeles, CA.
Anton | Los Angeles, CA.
From my own experience growing up in a macho culture, I can attest that both play a significant role in our behavior.
Vitaliy | Los Angeles, CA.
Hugo | Los Angeles, CA.
My intention with this work was to create an environment that fosters exploration through creative expression. We often think of life as a linear, a numerical experience. To me, life is circular, abstract, emotional, and complex, and anything that lives outside of that context is nothing but a set of social constructs that blocks the experience of joy and self-awareness. As my favorite author, David Foster Wallace, once said, "A big fish asked two little fish, how is the water boys, the two fish swimming in the ocean looked at each other perplexed by the question and responded to the bigger fish; What's water, sir?
Mochi | Los Angeles, CA.
Mochi | Los Angeles, CA.
Joel | Los Angeles, CA.
Let us not forget that being masculine, at times, is just a set of words, an intimate idea, behavior, or whatever it is to you, and although; we all are the fish in the sea, it can be easy to forget the water, we get to decide how we show up in the world, it's your own choice, your own sea.
