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Im
Gegensatz zum heterosexuellen männlichen Künstler, der die Rolle des
schönen und attraktiven Geschlechts bereitwillig der Frau überläßt,
feiern schwule Photographen ungeniert und unzensiert das eigene
Geschlecht. Dabei greifen sie oft auf die alten männlichen Ideale, wie
starker Körperbau und austrainierte Muskeln zurück. Neben dieser Ästhetisierung
maskuliner Aggressivität und Leidenschaft, widmet sich Andy Shomock aber auch den nachdenklichen Momenten und Stimmungen und setzt auch
diese leisen, einsamen Augenblicke gekonnt in Szene.
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Andy
Shomock was born in Vestaburg, Pennsylvania, a small town about 40 miles
south of Pittsburgh. The town has fewer than 900 people - and not
much in the way of organized entertainment. So, he spent a lot of
time hiking in the woods with friends. That's where he developed
his love of the outdoors. And when he wasn't hiking, he was
reading - mostly in the areas of art and history. Of course, the
male nudes depicted in paintings and sculptures were of the greatest
interest to him.
But it wasn't until the early 1980s that things all came together.
Andy had moved to Los Angeles and was enjoying the California lifestyle.
He bought his first Canon A-1 SLR and set up a home darkroom. He
wanted to get into male nude photography and do his own developing and
printing. The first pictures he took with the new camera were nude
self-portraits. "I had decided I couldn't ask anyone else to
do what I had not done myself. It was a very liberating experience!"
Andy spent the late 1980s moving around the country on various jobs.
And the photography, nude or otherwise, suffered because of it.
Anyway, he made it back to Los Angeles in 1991 and has been building his
list of models and inventory of images ever since.
"Let's face it, most jobs are dull and uninspiring and we can
hardly wait to get out of the office. But for me, photographing
the male nude is just the opposite. When I look through the
viewfinder, I can forget about all the annoyances of the real world and
just enjoy the beauty of the man in front of my lens. And I
thoroughly enjoy capturing that beauty on film. I'll gladly work
overtime and weekends doing this!!"
"My aim is to create beautiful images of the hunky guy next door.
I prefer models with that trim swimmer / wrestler / farm boy look rather
than the overdone weightlifter look. And I love photographing them
outdoors. So, take a look at my Galleries. And enjoy!"
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