The internet in recent years has seen an explosion in people putting their lives out there in blogs, sharing every detail of their life on twitter and facebook and for some this leads to a lot of success and others it satisfies an exhibitionist streak or a craving for approval.
Peter from Narcissus Gazed, Matthew from NYCDancer and Craig from High Contrast Cock all have blogs devoted entirely to self portraits, some quite graphic especially in Craig’s case. There is also Lars Stephan who is gaining quite a following for his photography and starting out used himself as his muse.
Matthew says he’s motivated by an exhibitionist streak, a love of photography and a curiosity for self portraits. Peter is exploring art and gender and beauty in his work and I think Craig just loves showing off and playing with his cock! Lars did an interview on Aussielicious some years ago now and found that while he wanted to explore nude photography he was the most affordable and willing model around.
So here it is. I took my “before” shots this morning and can clearly see why I have been feeling blah lately. I’m as out of shape as I have been in a long time. I’ve been eating rubbish and not exercising properly.
Joining in the challenge (so far, it’s never too late folks) is Richard in the middle and one of our much loved straight readers Hiram. Hiram contributed to the self portrait challenge a few months back and also contributed his cock shots to Pornolicious before I killed it off. Hiram has had a head start on us starting his own fitness overhaul 6 months ago and has already lost 25lb/11kg. He’s looking really good and don’t we love a straight boy who is willing to show us his well groomed junk?
So now, time to get into it, the gym closes in two hours, so I have time.
Note to self, performances go better if you have rehearsed the whole thing. Last night I did my routine at the open rig night and did OK. I’m not happy with the last big. I got a bit flustered and didn’t polish it up properly or execute the trick very well. I think I’ll substitute that trick for something else as there is a lot of preparation for not a lot of payoff at the end. We’ll see.
Thanks to everyone who submitted questions for this interview of myself. There are some great questions in there. So let’s dive in and get them answered.
How do you set up a shot when you photographing a model? Do you consider light and angles and all that? OR do you just wing it… how do you frame a shot?
When I meet some people, I have a flash of inspiration as to how I would photograph them and other times it’s more of a vague concept and I need to find the right person to shoot in it. I usually have an idea for the style of the shoot, be it candid, heavily posed or more relaxed but one of the things I have found is that sometimes you just can’t predict when the good stuff is going to happen.
I know you like your beaches, which do you consider to be your most loved, here in Aus and overseas?
I’m a biased man, Australia’s beaches are some of the best in the world. I grew up on City Beach in Wollongong and loved it, great surf, sometimes wild, but on the calm days we’d walk out on to the point and jump off the rocks and swim in. I admit I haven’t experienced a lot of international beaches, but the nude beaches in Barcelona and Sitges have a special appeal. They were full of eye candy.
I’m planning on moving to Sydney from the US by the end of the year. If you were looking a new job and housing what resources would you use? Any other advice for a yank?
For accommodation, probably use something like gayshare.com.au and for work, there are agencies for every kind of work. Maybe stay in a hotel and explore the city and get a feel for the area that has the right vibe for you!
To what extent are the small nudist gatherings you attend tinged with sexual overtones? On the one hand, I could imagine such activities to be purely innocent and free of any sexual element … and on the other hand, I could imagine them be highly charged events that have the potential to dissolve into something other than was originally intended!
Do committed couples ever show up or is it mostly single guys?
There are a couple of committed couples that come along. Our very first gathering a couple of years ago did get sexual. We all got drunk out of nerves and forgot to have any food. A happy outcome of that was two guys I introduced got together and are now a happy monogamous couple. There is usually no sexual overtones, but a group of nude guys there will always be a very slight overtone. The gatherings aren’t about hooking up, but if people get horny, and click with someone they are free to take them home and see how it goes.
I am curious on your thoughts of some of your ‘blog buddies’:
- AussieGayGuy … have you ever wondered if it is possible for one person to have too many swimming togs?
- Shannons Blogspot … do you think the blond hair is working out for him or ought he go with another colour?
- Break The Illusion … in person, rorty or ridgy-didge?
AussieGayGuy aka AussieSpeedoGuy. I haven’t met him but we have chatted online and he hosts this blog for me. He’s a really nice guy and to an extent I envy his lifestyle, jetting all around the world. As for speedos, it’s his thing, it’s not hurting anyone so why would it be too many?
Shannon. I just had coffee and a good chat with Shannon. He’s a great guy. He’s actually changed his hair now and I like it but I thought the blonde was working on him too.
Davey Wavey. No idea. A friend did catch up with him while he was here recently but I’m not at liberty to share information, but what he’s doing on his blog is working for him.
1) Did obtaining a full time job change your outlook on life?
2) What is the biggest truth that you discovered about yourself in 2009?
The job didn’t really change my outlook. I already knew I wasn’t suited to working for myself. Like my gym routine, I suffer from a total lack of discipline. That’s what stops me from trying photography as a career.
The biggest truth I discovered… that I still have a long way to go to be content with myself, but I’m not sure where I lost it along the way to need to find it again. More recently with my father’s heart attack and more open communication with my mother I’ve learnt that they are absolutely the most crucial thing in my life.
Were you raised in a church family background? If so, was your family loving and supportive?
I had to go to Sunday School as a child, but my sister and I weren’t big fans and I think it was just something my parents thought we had to do. I think it’s important to give kids a basic knowledge of the main thrust of religion, faith and spirituality, but I think it should be more broad, giving them a knowledge of Buddhism, Judaism, Catholicism and all of the religions. Imagine how much more tolerant we’d be.
1) What does your middle name initial “D” stand for?
David, it’s one of those family legacies. There’s bloody David’s everywhere in my family tree.
2) What should the PERFECT photo look like (what characteristics make a picture perfect)?
Who knows. It’s different for everyone and I don’t think I’ve taken my “perfect” shot and to an extent I hope I never do, because I might stop trying.
3) Who would be your dream-come-true ideal model for a photo shoot… well, err… apart from Kylie?
Dream model… tough one. I think for a portrait someone like Judy Dench would be great. She’s one classy lady, but with a sense of humour and I get the impression she wouldn’t be precious about being sure she looked beautiful. As far as an art nude model, Jake Gyllehall or Ryan Reynolds, just because.
4) What’s your earliest childhood memory?
One of the earliest that is coming to mind is being in my grandparents pool. They were telling me I’d broken the record by making it across the pool. I was about 4 and I couldn’t work out why you would break a record. Remember I’m a child of the generation before CD’s and iPods so I had mental images of broken vinyl everywhere. I never claimed to be a genius.
5) What - apart from the obvious, i.e. their sexual orientation - is the main difference between straight men and gay men? In your opinion, do they belong to completely different species? (I know, one shouldn’t generalise, but…)
I think we are quite similar in our sexual nature but, in broad general terms, gay men have already broken stereotypes so in some ways are more free of convention. That seems to be shifting now, with gay men turning on themselves and feeling like being camp or not masculine is a bad thing.
6) If your life would be made into a movie, which actor should play the role of Brenton D Parry ;-) and how would you categorize this movie: comedy, romantic comedy, drama, action movie, wildlife…?
I would probably say my life movie would be made by Woody Allen, full of neurosis and failed clumsy attempts at romance. I’d love to say it should be an Oscar winning movie, stylish, sensitive, with a dashing leading man filled with action and scorching sex scenes and witty banter, but that would be utter bullshit. There would be elements of comedy in it too and in a completely vain and inaccurate casting choice I’m going with the delectable Ryan Reynolds.
What have you learned from this blog?
There’s a few things that I’ve learnt from this blog. One is that I scare myself sometimes with just how much I put out there without really thinking it through. Another is that everyone has a story and I’ve heard some beautiful and some sad ones from readers emailing me. It’s amazing that people can get so much from things that the rest of us might take for granted. I post something that I think is pretty random and small and someone will email me saying thank you. Sadly I’ve also learnt that people can be nasty and malicious for the sake of their own perverse entertainment.
What do you prefer, beauty or intelligence? a lot of people say that gays are superficial, what do you think about that?
It depends on whether I’m looking at someone or talking to them. I’ll never be able to deny I’m a sucker for a pretty package but everyone needs else to back that up. Beautiful people with nothing else to offer, who rely solely on that, aren’t holding my attention for long.
As for gay people being superficial, I’d say that like every other element of society there are some that are superficial but there are also others who are far from it. The gay culture does tend to be very image driven.
Several weeks ago I had an amazing email from a reader of this blog who, despite being straight, identifies with a lot of what I write on this blog. TM is a 30-something year old straight reader from Germany who at the end of an email full of compliments and observations, told me he’d bought me a gift that he knew I would like.
In a bookshop in his home city he’d found all these treasures that he knew I’d love so bought me and sent to me a stunning copy of my much adored “Bear Pond” by the legendary Bruce Weber, Mario Testino’s “Portraits” book and a special edition of Stern, again by Bruce Weber called “Roadside America”.
How do I ever thank someone for that kind of generosity? I write this blog for a little bit of self-therapy, as a way to interact with many different people around the world and because it’s fun. There are some perks here and there, like being invited to various things I wouldn’t have been invited to otherwise and the odd freebie here and there, but being sent beautiful books worth stupid amounts of money is just humbling and flattering. I’ve actually been almost too nervous to truly enjoy Bear Pond. For me it’s almost the holy grail of photography books and a stranger felt compelled to send it to me.
TM, I haven’t stopped thanking you and I don’t know when I will. Thank you!
I was chatting to this guy on a nudist site and I really liked the quality of his photography and the lighting. His name is Darin and he runs a company called Draw Group. He and a friend are challenging each other to take self portraits. They were arguing about the meaning or various meanings and tones of the word “there”. So they are exploring the various meanings in their self portraits. At this stage I only have Darin’s shots.
Above, from left to right, we have “Sit right there”, “Hanging there” and “Waiting there”. As you can see, Darin his no problem with getting his gear off for a photograph, or in general it seems. His photographs are very thoughtful and quite moody in my opinion. I’m looking forward to seeing more!
I’m toying with taking up a similar challenge. Any suggestions for words? Any suggestion of “Cock” or anything else to try and get me to post full frontal will be giggled at and ignored.
It’s the 31st January and the first month of 2010 is already over. The Project 365 challenge has not been easy. I have often found myself not far from going to bed with no photo taken for the day. I’m thinking of making it even harder for myself by setting monthly themes for myself, such as a colour, style, or content.
Since this morning’s post about the photographic challenge I’ve had a few friend requests on facebook wanting to follow the progress of the challenge. I’m very sorry and I mean no offense but I won’t be accepting friend requests as a general rule. I do have lots of friends on facebook but I have met, sometimes very vaguely, the vast majority of them which is a plan I plan on sticking to.
As a compromise, I will put together all the images each month into a little video and post them on here for you all. I really appreciate everyone being interested in seeing my photos. They won’t all be self portraits at all as proven by today’s experiment. I got some close up lens filters for my camera for xmas so I got them out today to see how they go with this spanish onion.
Another reader has been kind enough to share his self portrait shots with us. this is Mike. He hasn’t said where he is from but it doesn’t matter. Thanks Mike!
Today we have another self portrait submission from Hiram, who lives in California. Hiram is a straight reader of the blog who has been reading for a few years and actually submitted more um… enthusiastic shots for my old blog pornolicious but they aren’t getting a re-run here.
It’s nice to see that there are some people out there who are accepting and tolerant of different sexuality and not threatened by it. Thank you for sharing Hiram!
I thought the self portrait challenge might have died a fast and early death until this afternoon when I got these photos from Eddie in San Francisco. Eddie grew up in France before living in LA and now San Fran. Eddie obviously sees himself enjoying sunshine on a beach with his inhibitions left somewhere else for a while.
If you are toying with the idea of a self portrait, do it. You don’t even have to be recognisable, it doesn’t have to be photographic, or nude, just a self portrait. I’m thinking of ideas for myself. I haven’t done any self portrait shots in a while.
The outback of Australia is a stunning area to discover and apparently inspirational to get your gear off. I know I felt like doing it in Kakadu but didn’t have the opportunity. Drew here was lucky enough to have a chance at a spectacular time of day. This photo was taken near an old mining town in Western Australia that is now a ghost town. Nice job Drew.
Two more reader submissions have come in to Aussielicious over this weekend. Firstly came Shannon, blogger and photographer extraordinaire with these three beautiful and very different shots were taken at very different times in Shannon’s life. The one on the right is my favourite and was apparently taken at a very emotional time for Shannon, so I really appreciate him sharing it with us.
The second set are from someone called Tango in NYC who has a very exhibitionist streak. The first shot he submitted I couldn’t actually post because of it’s graphic sexual nature. These paintings however are absolutely beautiful.
Matt here, also known as NYC Dancer Boy, is a big nudie like me, taking every opportunity to enjoy the freedom of nakedness, even performing in Naked Boys Singing in New York. So it was an easy choice for Matt to come up with some naked shots for the self portrait challenge. He probably had much more difficulty actually deciding which shots to use.
Keep the submissions coming boys! I’m really looking forward to seeing how you all portray yourselves!
This afternoon an email popped into my inbox with some beautiful black and white photos of a naked man. Not the first time hot images have popped into my email but possibly the first they’ve been self portrait photos of such quality. Ronan lives somewhere in a far far away land on the other side of the world and is inspired by self portraitists like Robert Mapplethorpe.
I don’t know if this is going to work, but I’m calling on all you readers to do self portraits and send them in. They don’t have to be photos, or even nude. You can do a cartoon of yourself, a photo, a painting or a self portrait of any visual kind. Send them in and if I like them, I’ll post them. I know other bloggers do self portraits all the time. I haven’t done one of myself for ages but may do again. So, send em in.
To what extent are the small nudist gatherings you attend tinged with sexual overtones? On the one hand, I could imagine such activities to be purely innocent and free of any sexual element … and on the other hand, I could imagine them be highly charged events that have the potential to dissolve into something other than was originally intended!
Do committed couples ever show up or is it mostly single guys?
There are a couple of committed couples that come along. Our very first gathering a couple of years ago did get sexual. We all got drunk out of nerves and forgot to have any food. A happy outcome of that was two guys I introduced got together and are now a happy monogamous couple. There is usually no sexual overtones, but a group of nude guys there will always be a very slight overtone. The gatherings aren’t about hooking up, but if people get horny, and click with someone they are free to take them home and see how it goes.
I am curious on your thoughts of some of your ‘blog buddies’:
- AussieGayGuy … have you ever wondered if it is possible for one person to have too many swimming togs?
- Shannons Blogspot … do you think the blond hair is working out for him or ought he go with another colour?
- Break The Illusion … in person, rorty or ridgy-didge?
AussieGayGuy aka AussieSpeedoGuy. I haven’t met him but we have chatted online and he hosts this blog for me. He’s a really nice guy and to an extent I envy his lifestyle, jetting all around the world. As for speedos, it’s his thing, it’s not hurting anyone so why would it be too many?
Shannon. I just had coffee and a good chat with Shannon. He’s a great guy. He’s actually changed his hair now and I like it but I thought the blonde was working on him too.
Davey Wavey. No idea. A friend did catch up with him while he was here recently but I’m not at liberty to share information, but what he’s doing on his blog is working for him.
1) Did obtaining a full time job change your outlook on life?
2) What is the biggest truth that you discovered about yourself in 2009?
The job didn’t really change my outlook. I already knew I wasn’t suited to working for myself. Like my gym routine, I suffer from a total lack of discipline. That’s what stops me from trying photography as a career.
The biggest truth I discovered… that I still have a long way to go to be content with myself, but I’m not sure where I lost it along the way to need to find it again. More recently with my father’s heart attack and more open communication with my mother I’ve learnt that they are absolutely the most crucial thing in my life.
Were you raised in a church family background? If so, was your family loving and supportive?
I had to go to Sunday School as a child, but my sister and I weren’t big fans and I think it was just something my parents thought we had to do. I think it’s important to give kids a basic knowledge of the main thrust of religion, faith and spirituality, but I think it should be more broad, giving them a knowledge of Buddhism, Judaism, Catholicism and all of the religions. Imagine how much more tolerant we’d be.
1) What does your middle name initial “D” stand for?
David, it’s one of those family legacies. There’s bloody David’s everywhere in my family tree.
2) What should the PERFECT photo look like (what characteristics make a picture perfect)?
Who knows. It’s different for everyone and I don’t think I’ve taken my “perfect” shot and to an extent I hope I never do, because I might stop trying.
3) Who would be your dream-come-true ideal model for a photo shoot… well, err… apart from Kylie?
Dream model… tough one. I think for a portrait someone like Judy Dench would be great. She’s one classy lady, but with a sense of humour and I get the impression she wouldn’t be precious about being sure she looked beautiful. As far as an art nude model, Jake Gyllehall or Ryan Reynolds, just because.
4) What’s your earliest childhood memory?
One of the earliest that is coming to mind is being in my grandparents pool. They were telling me I’d broken the record by making it across the pool. I was about 4 and I couldn’t work out why you would break a record. Remember I’m a child of the generation before CD’s and iPods so I had mental images of broken vinyl everywhere. I never claimed to be a genius.
5) What - apart from the obvious, i.e. their sexual orientation - is the main difference between straight men and gay men? In your opinion, do they belong to completely different species? (I know, one shouldn’t generalise, but…)
I think we are quite similar in our sexual nature but, in broad general terms, gay men have already broken stereotypes so in some ways are more free of convention. That seems to be shifting now, with gay men turning on themselves and feeling like being camp or not masculine is a bad thing.
6) If your life would be made into a movie, which actor should play the role of Brenton D Parry ;-) and how would you categorize this movie: comedy, romantic comedy, drama, action movie, wildlife…?
I would probably say my life movie would be made by Woody Allen, full of neurosis and failed clumsy attempts at romance. I’d love to say it should be an Oscar winning movie, stylish, sensitive, with a dashing leading man filled with action and scorching sex scenes and witty banter, but that would be utter bullshit. There would be elements of comedy in it too and in a completely vain and inaccurate casting choice I’m going with the delectable Ryan Reynolds.
What have you learned from this blog?
There’s a few things that I’ve learnt from this blog. One is that I scare myself sometimes with just how much I put out there without really thinking it through. Another is that everyone has a story and I’ve heard some beautiful and some sad ones from readers emailing me. It’s amazing that people can get so much from things that the rest of us might take for granted. I post something that I think is pretty random and small and someone will email me saying thank you. Sadly I’ve also learnt that people can be nasty and malicious for the sake of their own perverse entertainment.
What do you prefer, beauty or intelligence? a lot of people say that gays are superficial, what do you think about that?
It depends on whether I’m looking at someone or talking to them. I’ll never be able to deny I’m a sucker for a pretty package but everyone needs else to back that up. Beautiful people with nothing else to offer, who rely solely on that, aren’t holding my attention for long.
As for gay people being superficial, I’d say that like every other element of society there are some that are superficial but there are also others who are far from it. The gay culture does tend to be very image driven.