“MAN EXPOSED" History of Male Nude in Photography and Video (XXth and XXIth)

Curator / Ron Howell

Exhibit / 4 to 21 July 2014

“GILBERT: ‘It’s strange: a naked lady is wonderful; two naked ladies, very interesting; but two men naked …..!
GEORGE: One man naked is a male study; more than one …. well that’s quite serious - two men naked are more naked than one.’

MAN - EXPOSED (by RON HOWELL, curator)

Nakedness is exciting, fascinating - but it can also be disturbing.

Kenneth Clark, the English art historian, made the distinction between ‘nude’ and ‘naked’ - the nude is posed, confident, contrived, ‘respectably’ rooted in art history; naked is to be without clothes - exposed, vulnerable - an embarrassment!? Especially the penis.

The selection of photographs here traces the change in society’s attitude to the naked male during the 20th/21st centuries - changes which mirror and reflect the place of homoerotic and same sex relationships. The American photographer Berenice Abbott said ‘Photography helps people to see’ - and as we look at the images, so we see how society has changed; and the images have challenged society to change.The process of male ‘nude’ to ‘naked’ men is the story of the homoerotic becoming open and mainstream; of gay moving from closet to establishment.

At the end of the 19th century, photographs of the nude male fell into three main categories - of models in various poses of use to artists - replacing the use of plaster casts and live models; the recording of tribal and non-european cultures; the increasing use for medical, scientific and criminal purposes - so wounded soldiers were photographed in the American Civil war, criminals were recorded in ‘mug shots’, and the work of Huxley, Darwin and others led to the use of photography in the understanding of human/ animal evolution - Muybridge developed a camera to record human locomotion. This was the first time images of the nude male were widely available to the general public. Photography was used and valued for recording clarity of detail - things as they ‘are’.

Edward Mybridge, circa 1870

The two World Wars brought huge changes in society - no longer was the male nude inspired by the classical - the interwar period saw the cult of physical fitness, sun worship and naturalism; the huge numbers of servicemen brought together led to male companionship and bonding and there was a general ‘loosening’ of morals. After 1918 male nudes were largely photographed in a ‘classical’ setting - in Sicily by Pluschow, von Gloeden and in Germany by Theodore Hey - with laurel wreaths and columns, grapes and urns - this trend continued in the 1930’s with the work of the fashion photographers McBean, Platt Lynes, Herbert List and others whose male nudes were made for their own pleasure and for their friends - most remained unpublished until the later 20th century. They destroyed many of the negatives for fear of prosecution.

The 1940’s and 50’s saw the rise of commercial studios meeting the need for ‘homoerotic’ photographs - ‘beefcake’ and ‘physique’ photographs - but these were business rather than art - they were largely contrived studio pictures - in small format so that they could easily be sent through the post without attracting the attention of the authorities. Blatant sexual activity was illegal as were erect or naked penises. Images largely conformed to the bodybuilder ideal - using wrestling and athletic poses to legitimise physical intimacy; the use of ‘classical’ accessories continued - columns, masks, elaborate sets; stereo types were popular - cowboys, uniforms, mechanics; ropes, chains and other ‘props’ provided suggestive scenarios. Athletic Model Guild, Bruce of LA, Lon of NY, Western Photography Guild were some of the best known in the US. Later the ‘hollywood pin up’ was a popular theme/ model - Colt Studio/ Jim French was a leading name here. Images from this period were ‘propaganda’ for the nascent ‘gay rights’ movement. The images suggested and embodied an uncomplicated exaggerated male sexuality.

The 1960’s saw society in ferment - huge changes gave rise to a ‘counter culture’ in both Europe and the United States - the anti Vietnam war protests in 1964; Civil Rights 1965 and Women’s Rights and in 1969 the Stonewall Riots gave birth explicitly to the Gay Rights movement. In 1968 the Supreme Court in the US passed the ruling that nudity per se was not obscene - and this reduced the number of prosecutions of those producing and sending nude male photographs through the post - and the ‘pouch’ was no longer obligatory for naked males.

In 1978 the Marcus Pfeifer Gallery in NY held the first show of male nudes - the critic Rene Ricard wrote - ‘Don’t men’s genitals have a certain ….. decorative look, like an accessory thrown in to be amusing?’ The penis is always the problem.

The Gay Rights movement and the higher profile and acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle meant that naked men became mainstream - the homoerotic was in business - fashionably selling underwear and perfume - Bruce Weber commented “ When I had my first studio in NYC I was asked by Calvin Klein to photograph his underwear campaign. He asked me ‘Where do you want to go?’ I thought ... and then it hit me, Herbert List and Santorini.”!

Calvin Klen Advert., circa 1980. // The male figure, circa 1960

An homage to the past! And a nod to an early photographer of the homoerotic.

Mapplethorpe, Ritts, Scavullo, Gorman ... now so many many other photographers - women as well as men! - have naked men as their subject matter. A recent anthology of male nudes featured images by 140 photographers. In the past men were carefully photographed as a tribute to the male physique - always with a flaccid or only semi erect penis - everything now is explicit. Now nothing seems forbidden! Almost porn as contemporary art?

The contemporary photographers featured in this show celebrate the male nude as naked men - their work is to be enjoyed on a sensual as well artistic level - they come from different countries, different continents and are of differing ages and backgrounds - their common ground is a delight in and celebration of the male body and our honest and open desire and enjoyment in that. Now to be ‘queer’ or ‘gay’ is no longer illegal, it may even be increasingly accepted in main stream society and what was once hidden and furtive can now be openly enjoyed, accepted and celebrated. Here and now in Madrid.

David Lebe '1976 - living in a very cramped and small apartment, alone, life felt small and closed in. I thought what if I pull the shades, turn out the lights and use a small flashlight as a light source – could it create an illusion of uncluttered open spaces?! ‘
Thinking only with my eyes and the motion of my body I started to make pictures. What I ended up doing was taking off my clothes, opening the camera shutter and drawing an outline around my body with a small flashlight, adding points of light, lines and squiggles here and there around the room ... those particular pictures were like a neon advertisement announcing the thrill of my existence as a gay man - and of all gay men. They were a way of coming out.’!

“Flight”(Renato, Philadelphia) 1983

César Saldivar 'The nude is present as a resourse of my photographic expression, and in many of the sessions the doublé images seen in mirrors or dual elements are constructed and intertwined in black and White, always using natural lighting.
As if composing an opera, I began with a real event to fly, build, express and comunicate different emotions and feelings that are completely interrelated in the face of such a commonplace theme, which is nevertheless distant to us – death.

“Desnudo” 1993

César Saldívar (Mexico, 1948)

Dale Pierce 'In 2004 I was at a crossroads with my photography. Having spent 5 years developing a signature style which had brought a measure
of success, it posed the question ‘Now what?’ Being challenged has always been the motivating factor for my life and work.
My desire was to find a way to present classical themes, portraiture and nudes, from a fresh and unique perspective. I always look for classic lines, geometrical shapes, and by chance I found the starting point for the collaged images in the work of two French brothers - their approach was so clean and orderly. For me it was the ‘Ah! Ha!’ moment ….. And the start of this new direction.!! The method is time consuming - three or four of the same images are cut and woven; they are then re-photographed using a large format camera and then the negative is scanned. This is then reworked for tone, contrast or whatever is necessary and then the final print is made.’

“Desnudo” 2012

Dale Pierce (USA, 1967)

Daniel Hernández-Salazar 'Commitment to the fight for human rights has brought with it artistic photography of the nude for Daniel Hernadez-Salazar. Developing his own series on the topic for almost 30 years, it is as much inspired by an aesthetic impulse as on the ideal of being well within our own skin. Hernadez-Salazar considers the nude to be the most democratic condition of the human body, noticing 'without clothes, we are all equal'.

From the beginnings of the series, Hernandez-Salazar tried to break the taboo of nudity - especially the masculine - and explore the feelings of man towards his own body. For him nude photography is a way of seeing from the outside in. The bodies that he presents in his work, free of materiality and reduced to a major expression, demonstrate that while the prejudices of the naked body are not universally shared, the aesthetics and sensuality really are.

“Ivan” 2014

Daniel Hernández-Salazar (Guatemala, 1956)

Pigment print on Hahnemülhe Photo Rag - 10 x 15 cm

Ed. 99 / Passepartout Museum 35 x 45 cm