Behind the scenes of my shoot for Photopia's "Manhood" Exhibition

Manhood in the modern world is a complex topic. Which is a great idea for an exhibition. Photopia (Local photography Hub) held an open call for photographers to submit concepts for “Manhood“. The Call was stated as follows:

The concept of masculinity has changed over the years and has become more complex, conflicting and controversial, especially from the perspective of women (and men well). The aim of the exhibition is to use photography to share with others the perspective of traditional or re-imagined manhood or masculinity, whether it is conceptual, documentary, abstract or symbolic. Celebrating International Women's day, we thought about highlighting women's re-imagined perspective of manhood.
But the invitation is not limited to female photographers, it is also open for photographers of both genders.

What I like to do is to research the topic and then come up with a concept or in this case subtext. I wanted to show the inner struggles of manhood that are concealed in strength and compliance. After researching ideas of different concepts, I like to sketch some ideas down on paper. This is a way to get the basic, superficial ideas out of my head so I can dig deep and come up with something more creative. Here are some sketches I went through for this:

Sometimes I can expand on a superficial idea and make it so much more, and other times getting them on paper allows me to be more creative and come up with new ideas.

There are times where two ideas can merge, or one idea can be two separate ones.

Some ideas are discarded, and others pop up when you are shooting and don’t even have a chance to sketch it out.

The exhibition is on June 4th, 2022, at 6pm and it runs for 2 weeks if you want to check it out. There was a minimum of 3 submissions per artist and all three of mine were accepted. Here are the results below.

I walk in an ever-increasing vivid darkness. Guided by everything that is expected of me. Provide! Support! Be Strong! When can I start deciding? When can I be vulnerable? The fire that illuminates me is fading. I thought I had all kinds of time. I need to stop society, culture and history from dictating what I do with my life. I should know who I am by now!

The truth is that you forget. You puff up and put on all kinds of masks that are expected of you. Yet, you laugh at others who do the same. No matter how tough you act, fear is there. Sometimes it drives you, other times it's paralyzing. The fear to be vulnerable is so ingrained in who you are that any sign of it scares you to the core. Remember the one who can own their vulnerability often does not need to be tough, because their vulnerability is their strength.

It seems like this new world wants you to do this. You don’t have to make this mistake and you don’t have to stay this way. You know who you are and that should give you strength. Manhood is not defined by your gender, culture, or society. There are delicate beautiful women with the qualities we often associate with manhood, so it is time to grow and reimagine your manhood the way you want it for this new world.