Male bodies

From paradigms of physical perfection to gay icons, this illustrated survey of male nude photography presents in one stunning volume various portrayals of masculinity as seen through the eyes of the world’s most renowned photographers. For a century and a half, photographers have been documenting the male form in order to serve a variety of purposes, from motion and anatomical studies to models for subsequent paintings to purely aesthetic and erotic ends. The entire continuum of male nude photography is the subject of this new volume in the Icons of Photography series. Fifty extraordinary images by such masters as Edward Weston, Imogen Cunningham, Minor White, Diane Arbus, Joel-Peter Witkin, Duane Michals, Nan Goldin, Annie Leibovitz, Andy Warhol and Grace Lau are presented in vibrant two-page spreads with illuminating commentary by an expert in photography. Together these pictures trace an arc through the development of photographic history, technique, and style, while also following the cultural patterns that helped define our ideas of male beauty.