There is something intrinsically hot about two sexy brothers. Many in the industry have capitalized on shooting brothers, often twins, withinin their work with the male form. I am always surprised how many 'artists' take the easy way out by sexualizing brothers through pose and with incestuous undertones which are just not needed. There is already a sexual energy organic when shooting two men together, especially if one of the things the brothers don't share is the same sexual orientation. Creative photographers know they don't have to push beyond the natural brotherly relationship to achieve beautiful, sensuous and stimulating images.
Wes clearly knows this, as do the brothers. Even in their wool sweaters, you can see the closeness between Luca and Matteo. Seeing them together, shot completely naked is sexy enough without photographer or model pushing it somewhere uncomfortable, and unnecessary. Visually, they are fascinating to view together. The similarities and differences are highlighted by the Wes's portraits and seeing them together beautifully highlights the physical differences in how their bodies have responded to each of their chosen athletic pursuits.
When Luca wrote Wes last December about bringing his brother along to his next shoot, he described Mateo as the straight, jock-hunk in the family. Wes was a bit sceptical at first, but Luca assured him that Mateo was up for "bareing it all" and given how beautifully his work with Luca turned out, Wes agreed. Wes shares that Matteo ended up having engaging personality that he hope comes through in some of the images they captured.
Below: Alex applying the Made in Italia temporary tattoo both brothers wore during a part of their shoots.
'Matteo was a bit self-conscious when he first started doing the nude work but he had never done anything like this before so that was to be expected. Accordingly, I had suggested that Luca might want to sit in the waiting room or the dressing room but he busied himself on his cell phone at the back of the studio. I feared he might be inhibiting his older brother but the two were ignoring each other and in time Matteo got with the program and became totally relaxed and was having fun with the shoot.'
Matteo
'Neither Luca nor Matteo had any qualms about shooting together and we got some “family shots” early in the session when both guys were clothed. The brothers are very close, and totally cool about working together. At the end of Matteo’s session and before we started working with Luca, we asked if they’d be OK with doing a few shots together unclothed. Both guys agreed with little or no discussion and we spent about 10 minutes getting a short series of pictures that I was uncertain as to how I’d ever use. Clearly they won’t wind up on the family mantle.'
Luca
You'll notice in some of these images, both brothers are sporting the Made in Italia logo in some of Wes's shots. Luca and Matteo were the forth and fifth Italians to work within New Manhattan's Studio the last few months and the pattern was not lost on Wes and Alex. Wes plans on capitalizing on the trend with a new book currently in the works. Over the next few months, Wes is actively searching for more models to fill the book devoted to Italian and Italian-American models. If you're a model and fit that description, you might want to shoot Wes a note, and if you're a fan of all things Italian, I will let you know when the book is available for purchase!
