'Male nudes represent some of my most personal work and I have developed an intense interest in this fine art form from my earliest days as student photographer.'
It struck me that photographer Martin Visser used the phrase 'my most personal work' when describing his passion for shooting the male nude. Martin's words resonated for me as I don't always appreciate how personal FH has become to me. FH is of course loaded with images of great looking, and often naked, men. But... if posting hot naked men was all I was interested in, I would just have a tumblr, and post one hot naked image after the other.
I choose images, models and artists to feature for a number of reasons. Some, are simply for aesthetic reasons, an incredibly hot model, or visually breathtaking image. This makes up though, a fairly small percentage of the images and artists that I feature. Most often, I contact a model or artist because of a nexus between myself and an image. Some sort of connection that goes beyond what's on the surface. Because I just don't post images, but write about them, there has to be something that I see that also inspires me to spent time exploring why they appeal to me.
When I first saw Martin's work with 25 year old South African model Juan-Dré I thought two things. Initially, yes it was that body, especially Juan-Dré's amazing butt! That may have been enough to reach out to the photographer, but there was much more. Juan-Dré has the most beautiful, serious and soulful green eyes. The intensity expressed is passionate and powerful, forcing the viewer to look beyond just the surface and take a peak into the soul below.
Martin beautifully tapped into Juan-Dré's passion, especially in some of the conceptional images he created. Martin describes working with Juan-Dré' as a fantastic experience. Over their three shoots together, Martin has witnessed and tapped into Juan-Dré's passion for his body, fitness and photography. Martin says Juan-Dré' is always willing to try anything new and adventurous. You can
check out more of Martin's work with Juan-Dré, including many of his fine art prints, on his site HERE:
'Juan-Dré is easy to work with and doesn't need much direction. He simply goes with the flow and brings his own ideas to the shoot. '
At 25, Juan-Dré has a compelling look, combining a youthful innocence weaved with intelligence and wisdom. In the shower shots near the bottom, taken at his third shoot with Martin, you can see the growth, both his physical and sexual maturity and expression in front of the lens.
Martin's desire to capture an incredible surface, yet still go beyond it, comes from the journey that has taken him to shooting the male form. Originally, Martin studied law, and worked as a real estate agent. He always had a passion for photography, which led him to take promotional images of the properties he was selling. The positive response he received had Martin considering a new career, and enrolling in a full time photography focus at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in South Africa.
'All-in-all, the third shoot turned out to be another brilliant day working with Juan-Dré, as we had so many laughs throughout the day working with a shower that went from hot to freezing cold is seconds!'
