Photo: weheartit
With every piece of art she creates, writer and photographer Abigail Ekue makes you think and look at things in an honest yet still intriguing way.
"I'm here to force you to think, really look within yourself, accept your faults, push yourself, be uncomfortable," she said in an interview with PMC Magazine.
Ekue's male nude photo series (and soon to be a book), Bare Men, shows us men in all their nakedness, unclothed and unmasked not just physically, but emotionally as well.
The subjects of these photos aren't artificial representations of men, but men in their quiet moments. As Ekue explained in an article in Refinery 29, unlike female nudity, when we see full-frontal male nudity in TV and film it's still surprising and remarkable.
"We're not at the point where male nudity isn't a thing," she says.
Photo: baremen
1. In front of the city skyline
He looks both human and animal perched on the shelf that way.
Photo: baremen
2. Relaxing on the couch
A raw and unguarded moment.
Photo: Abigail Ekue Photography
3. Bashful and shy
It's the emotion that comes from these photos that make them feel so intimate.
Photo: Abigail Ekue Photography
4. Standing against the bricks
We can feel his vulnerability.
Photo: Abigail Ekue Photography
5. A loner looking for a home
We see private moments in these shots.
Photo: Abigail Ekue Photography
6. Remembering a childhood home
"I want the audience of Bare Men to feel what the men are feeling," Ekue says.
Photo: Abigail Ekue Photography
7. Leaning on a mural of flowers
His stare is unflinchingly direct, yet he covers himself.
Photo: baremen
8. Representing all shapes and sizes
"I want the perception of male nudes to include all shapes and sizes and not merely ultra-smooth, androgynous bodies."
Photo: Abigail Ekue Photography
9. Laying on the couch for a rest
We're used to seeing female nudity, but still surprised and thrilled by male nudity.
Photo: Abigail Ekue Photography
10. Spending a day in the desert
Nudity and sex aren't the same things.
Photo: Abigail Ekue Photography
11. Adjusting to the shingles on this slope
Here we see a man without his guard up and without the clichés of what we think of as masculinity.
Photo: Abigail Ekue Photography
12. Taking a cigarette break
"I stay away from studio shoots for this series so there's less production and more connection."
Photo: Abigail Ekue Photography
13. Sitting still in the sunlight
These pictures mean something different to everybody who looks at them.
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