'For me, looking back at the work that I’ve done with Jerry makes me find the wonder in photography again.'
I am guessing, given the scope and theme of FH, that most readers have a folder on their desk top filled with their favorite images. Photos of Hot,sexy and naked men used to motivate and stimulate. With that folder, the images don't usually stay too long. They are helpful, but time-limited. This folder is fluid and images are rotated on a fairly regular basis, especially when we see a new image to right click and save to take their place.
I think many of us also have another folder on that desktop... This one with images that do more than just stimulate, instead, the images also resonate. Tese images that through the skill of the photographer, the concept or our connection to theme or the model are ones we want to save but unlike the images within that other album, these we want to keep permanently.
It is interesting that when I look through this folder on my desktop, visual connections occur. There are few professional and typical looking male models within the images. Most are unknown, with more natural, maybe more obtainable looking bodies and faces. I guess this is part of the appeal, the way a great photographer can bring out the beauty, the erotic, the sensual within a man that otherwise might be overlooked within the industry. Many of the images don't show the models penis, most have a focus on the male form as a whole. Almost all were shot by photographers who understand that most connections we make, to an image or a man, even when that man is completely naked, erect and exposed, occur through the eyes. If not, the photo doesn't make it into this folder, instead, the photo shows up in that other folder I described above.
When I first discovered the work of Austin photographer RJ Velazquez, despite the numbers incredibly good looking men in his port, I could not get my attention divert beyond his images of Thomas, and his sad, even a little tired, blue eyes. (The Rules Of Attraction) Thomas was naked in many of RJ's shots, but it was the connection with those eyes that had the photos resonate to me. Tomas reminded me of someone, not someone I exactly knew, but maybe someone in my mind I wanted to. I found both model and the images intriguing and ones which left me wanting to know more.
RJ's work continues to intrigue me. Despite his new work and new images, every time I return to look for another subject, I find myself drawn to a model or an image that I previously ignored. It happened with Mark in November (Double Take) Mark's images were there on my previous visits, but I didn't even stop, enlarge them and take a closer look. Yet, in on the November visit, they were the only images I wanted to see more of. Jerry was there the first time I went through RJ's port as well, he was also there in November, but it wasn't until my last visit that Jerry's images demanded my sole attention.
With each return visit to his work, I find images that resonate, most interesting, images that were always there. It is quite a powerful thing to create images that require simmering, that over time rise to the surface to be the only ones seen. This time it was Jerry, his incredible eyes and body and beautifully natural body hair that created the rise for me.
'I find myself being drawn back to the images of Jerry occasionally. He oozes masculinity. I’m not sure if I’m like most photographers, but when I’m feeling unsure whether or not to continue photographing I tend to go over the catalog of my work. As I look over the images from previous shoots, I start to fall in love again with the images and the work that has gone in to create the images – from working with the models to the final product.'
