I Understand And Wish To Continue:
Above Itay Atias.
I frequently get emails thanking me for FH and the way I tastefully present my subjects and the type of photos I choose to share. Every once in a while, I get emails telling me that I wuss out with the blog, not posting enough frontals and commenting on my refusal to post erections, sexual acts and more explicit material.
Truth of the matter is I simply post what I like. I am glad many think it is tasteful, but it really is simply just my taste. The blog is themed as 'My favorites' and I would not spend the hours I do putting features together if I was not passionate about the the subject, the photographer and the work. If I wanted to post more explicit content I would. There are tons of sites out there with much 'harder' images than FH but FH is not just about the photo, FH is about the person in the photo and the person taking the photo. I find more often than not, the 'who' becomes sort of irrelevant in most shots featuring erections. Some artists however (many on the my list of favorites to the right) can maintain the who with the what. Photos By Biron is certainly one of them.
Why am I going down this track...well, two reasons really. Firstly, come this October FH will have been up and running for four years. For the first time in that four years I am truly annoyed by the 'content warning' blogger insists greet visitors as they enter the site. No, of course FH is not for kids but there is nothing obscene about anything on the blog. What is obscene is that television, in America in particular, is full countless acts of violence on a daily basis. Every possible way in which a human being can be butchered, mutilated, murdered, raped and defiled is paraded on television screens nightly for families to enjoy
Last week it seemed the world was obsessed with a woman who most likely murdered her child. The networks, (who once brought us The Waltons & The Brady Bunch) each and every one of them, looked for ways to exploit this story to draw us in. To increase their ratings and ad revenue. Yet...they want to shield our children from the horrors of sexuality. The worst thing you will see on FH is not a penis, it is my horrible grammar! Hopefully children everywhere will grow up to have amazing and exciting sex lives! Hopefully they will not grow up to be decapitated by a serial killer. Yet...guess which one is ok to show to children on television each night...
The second reason thoughts of 'taste' and 'censorship' were running through my head was researching this feature on the work of Photos by Biron. I first started communicating with Biron about a feature over a year ago. My first stab at a profile was using what might be some of his most well known work (at least on the net) of model Itay Atias (first shot above). Biron's 'Sailor Boy' series is an incredible blend of retro sexuality and given all the bullshit surrounding gays in the military, also completely modern, boundary pushing and highly relevant.
I can sometimes however be painstakingly slow in putting together profiles. I like to find a theme, an angle a creative way to present the work of those I am featuring. By the time I got around to putting together my post, Biron's work with Itay was already shared by other sites and blogs. I missed my window and decided to wait until I could come up with something new. Given the massive amount of work on Biron's site (over 50 years worth) you would think that would be easy. The amount of work actually made it much more difficult. I finally, out of frustration, went with his 'butt' portfolio. Easy and safe choice I know. But as much as I loved the photos it was not his pictures that brought about what I wanted to say, it was his writings.
"Our sexual taboos are so strong that respectable photographers are today still forced to qualify their use of male nudity as 'tasteful'"
The Male Nude in Photography and the Erotic-Portrait
published 1997
Instead of rewriting what is already so perfectly written, I encourage readers to check out more of Biron's words which further explore his thoughts on tasteful photography and the many benefits of pornography.
Check out more at Biron's site HERE: and his words section HERE:
Ironically, when Biron was sharing his latest news with me he shared that one of his works is currently being showcased at The Kinsey Institutes Annual Juried Art Show. That image, which you can see HERE: is of Sailor Boy, not Itay this time but Italian model Andrea Faggioli, sitting on a white chair, sporting a beautiful erection.
