My interests in the male image and a return to classicism drew me to the work of the German photographer Baron Wilhelm
von Gloeden (1856-1931). These images are the beginning of a tribute to the late photographer to commemorate his 150th
birthday in the year 2006.
Settling in Taormina, Sicily, Von Gloeden photographed nude youths in bucolic settings, and subsequently became a
pioneer of open air photography. Despite the prudish time in which Von Gloeden worked, his sensuous images were sold on
a large scale and appreciated by both European aristocrats and American industrialists. Von Gloeden used a Mediterranean
backdrop and classical props in his images to evoke the Golden Age of Greece. By invoking that aesthetic tradition, Von
Gloeden was able to present his images as 'illustrations of Homer and Theocritus' while referencing the homosexual or
gay erotic aspects of the period.
Today, contemporary male imagery is out of the closet, and no longer in need of coding as gay. By revisiting the
classical aesthetic in these contemporary times, however, we can see and appreciate the art of coding images differently
than admirers in Von Gloeden's time period. |
