The first time
Added 2020-11-10 06:56:15 +0000 UTCThere have been many times in the 16 years that I've been doing male nude photography where I've realised how lucky I am. Not lucky in the way that most people assume, in that I get to be witness to a lot of beautiful men not wearing any clothing, although that is definitely a perk of the job. Lucky in the sense that I often get to see the moment when people embrace the fear of posing nude and giving it a go for the first time.
Every single one of the images above are from each of the model's first ever nude photo shoot. Sure, they've all without doubt taken nude selfies for Grindr or their own use in whatever form, but posing nude for someone else is a different experience altogether.
On a recent shoot with Guillaume (the main photo above in black and white) who was taking the plunge for the first time, we were discussing why people do it. As someone that has (in my younger fitter days) been in front of the camera a handful of times I said that to me it is letting go of how you see yourself, with all the baggage that the years endows us with, and seeing yourself through someone else's eyes. I'm very often quite critical of how I see myself, but when I look at photos other people have taken I don't mind them at all. It's me with the lens of someone else's creativity or experience.
The guys in the images above all told me they enjoyed the experience. Whether they have done it again or would I don't know. I do know that I'm very grateful they put their trust in me and that they got some images that they hopefully love.
