Man Now

'Man Now' is a photography project exploring ideas of modern masculinity through self portraiture. I lost one of my best friends in my early 20’s when he took his own life. There were warning signs but I was not equipped with a deep enough understanding of where he was at to be able to help him talk it through. Suicide is the largest cause of death in men under the age of 45 in the UK and is on the rise. I want to bring awareness to the need for men to come together and share their experiences and concerns.

For these portraits, the men sit in front of a two-way mirror with a 10x8 camera behind it. After explaining how it works I leave the room and they are free to look at their own reflection and trigger the camera in their own time by using a cable release under their feet.

I do not have any idea what has taken place until the films are developed in my darkroom.

The prints are on silver gelatin fibre based paper and gold and selenium toned. I shot 10x8 large format as I want there to be as much of the integrity of the person present in the final print as possible and I reverse the negatives so that we see the exact image that the subjects see in the mirror; their mirror image.

A number of the men featured here are connected with abandofbrothers. This is an organisation which takes young men (18 - 25) who are in crisis, often leaving the prison system and exposes them to mature male role models through a ‘right of passage’ journey. The mental health and wellbeing of the young men who go through the programme and the volunteers who support them is profoundly positively effected. Reoffending rates are reduced by 80% with a ripple effect throughout their lives and the community in which they live.

The prints were exhibited in the CALM Photography Movement exhibition at The Getty Gallery in London in May 2017. The exhibition was curated from a worldwide competition to create imagery around the concept of masuclinity and mens mental health.

Links
CALM exhibition // CALM Charity (Campaign Against Living Miserably) // www.gettyimagesgallery.co.uk // www.abandofbrothers.org.uk

Casey Moore © 2019