In 2008, I titled this photograph "Ascension" because, it seemed to me at the time that the model was bracing himself before he being lifted up, skyward.

There is something about this image that always registers with me as being very quiet and dreamlike, even though I created the image during a bawdy summer party at the Tom of Finland house in the Los Angeles.  Loud music was playing and about 15-20 people were a few yards behind me.  The model, being a true exhibitionist, was totally in his element -- the center of attention, nude, being photographed with group of people looking on.

I cannot promise that every gathering at the house will be like this. But if you ever have the opportunity to attend a Tom of Finland party, do not pass it up.

The image below came from one of the satisfying shoots I have ever had.

One of the reasons why this was so is because of the suppleness of body that Matt Schiermeier brought to the work.  And in addition and just as important, Matt was open to unveiling his vulnerability to the camera.  This image is very similar to one I have posted recently.  But in some significant ways, to me at least, it is different in feeling tone.

As I was working on the photo in post-production, I was moved to find a quote, some sort writing that touched upon the feelings that were being evoked in me by looking at the image well after the conclusion of the shoot.

I found the quote in Kahlil Gibran's work.

When I created the image below, I used the mannequin as a way of introducing "another person" into an otherwise one-person photo shoot.  I wanted to give the model something to play against.

But sometime after I had completed the retouching and watermarking of the image, I began to notice that there was much more going in the photograph to contemplate, at least for me.  I began to ask myself, "Could my dedication to photographing the muscular male become an obsession?  Has it already?  Would I know it if it had? Why has the muscular male body remained such a powerful, evocative visual object for thousands of years?"  These were just some of the questions that came up for me.

I did not come up with any neat and simple answers to any of them.  And I don't believe I ever will.  But as an artist and a human being, I believe it is worthwhile for me to ask these questions of myself from time to time.

Well, one more image of Constantinos Demetriou.

One of the reasons why I have enjoyed working with Con is because he is so willing to explore new or different ways of presenting the muscular male body.

In the shot below, one of my intentions was to play with symmetry and balance but not in an uninspired way as if I were judging his body at a bodybuilding competition.

I am continually fascinated at how limited we, in the physique photography domain, are when it comes to posing our models.  There are a host of reasons for the narrow way we direct our models. But sometimes I believe we are afraid to do something that be considered different, bold, or (eek!) strange.

(If you wish to see more images of Con, visit his website: http://www.conthedestroyer.com/)

Over time, I found that hiding selected portions of the body from my view behind the camera was such a potent way to ramp up my awareness of what remained visible.  By asking Constantinos to fold his massive arms out of sight, I was struck by the presence of his back, especially its silhouette and mass.  With his arms out of the picture, I saw his back "more."

And with this simple optical trick, his body became a slightly otherworldly thing, a new thing.

I want to create more images that have a similar spirit as the one below of Matt Schiermeier.

I have noticed that I have a growing desire to see men portrayed in less common ways, in less traditional presentations.

I am gravitating to images of men that show them in repose or relaxed. Or focused inward, more inviting of reflection, more abstracted, symbolic, perhaps--even, more spiritual.

I will never lose my eye and appetite for "man-as-hero" or men as sexual blow torches.  They will always have a place in my visual life.  (I plan on posting some in the near-future.)

But I'm increasingly realizing, as I change and get older, that I also want to see (and make) male imagery that is less energized in those ways and more attuned to those quieter aspects of being, those aspects that I am (re)discovering more of in myself.

When I worked with the competitive bodybuilder and model, Brad Gwinn, I was shown once again that the muscular male body does not need to be a mountain of mass in order to be beautiful.

It was a pleasure for me to create images of Brad's physique because of his height and the length of his limbs (and flexibility).  To be sure, his body was certainly developed.  But Brad's physique was layered with these flowing swaths of muscle, allowing me to create images similar to the two I have featured below. 

This weekend, I submitted a selection of my photographs for possible inclusion in the upcoming book entitled TURNON: Muscles by Bruno Gmunder.

Keep your fingers crossed for me. I hope they publish the work this next time around.

Check out the cover below.  (The cover photo is by Michael Stokes.)

Click on the photo to receive a notice of the book's US release from Amazon.com.

Like so many other gay men, my world was rocked by Herb Ritts' iconic photograph entitled, Fred with Tires.

Only a few photographers' work has inspired and creatively nourished me as much as Herb Ritt's images of the male body.  For me, his photographs beautifully blend what is both sensuous and sublime about the muscular physique.

Sometime ago, I created an image as a tribute to Herb, who had died of complications from AIDS long before I became a photographer.  The idea was not to copy Fred with Tires in some literal way.  Instead, my intention was to tap into what I felt to be the essence of Fred and interpret it in my own way, according to my own sensibilities.

The first image is, of course, a copy of Herb's photograph.  The second image is my homage below.

Wherever you are, Herb, thank you so much for sharing your vision with the world, and with me.

For me, the image of the muscular male body evokes a sense of the spiritual, of the transcendent. 

I created the image below to help me see, in an outward fashion, the types of images that arise in my imagination on a continuous basis.