An evolution of beauty

ographe

Lows the maturation of one model

June 29, 2001 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

9

Brian

A Nine-Year Photographic Diary by Reed Massengill FotoFactory Press $30 hardcover

by Kaizaad Kotwal

Massengill and Massengill Men are two collections of male photography by New York photographer Reed Massengill. The two books contain a fine selection of Massengill's black and white photos focusing on the beauty of a variety of men.

In his latest book, Brian: A Nine-Year Photographic Diary, Massengill has turned his lens towards the incredible beauty and compelling persona of one singular model— the stunningly beautiful and somewhat enigmatic Brian Hess.

Massengill, who currently resides in New York City, calls Knoxville, Tennessee, his home. He has been a contributing photographer and writer for various publications including the New York Times, Connoisseur, Genre, Swim, Cowboy, Forbes, Paramour and Interview, among others. Massengill was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his 1994 biography Portrait of a Racist, chronicling the life of white supremacist Byron de la Beckwith, the convicted killer of Medgar Evers.

In his earlier books, Massengill compiled a series of pictures of models who in the photographer's words "are bankers and busboys, athletes and architects, fraternity boys and young fathers, dock workers and social workers." It is this sense of the everyman that had drawn Massengill to his models.

Brian Hess in many ways is the embodiment of this "everyman" spirit that Massengill has so beautifully found in a plethora of models in the past. Hess approaches a certain Greek ideal in many ways and yet there is, juxtaposed against that physical perfection, a greater sense of motion, spirit, and emotion that gives these photos a very dynamic, almost spiritual and gracefully kinetic quality.

In essence, Massengill has the ability to capture with his lens a nice tension between a physicality that is forever immortalized on film and a spirit that seems to be in flux and seeking release beyond the confines of a still image. It is this sense of physical immutability and emotional vulnerability that makes Hess's images rich and honest.

Hess is captured in a variety of moods and emotions and there are portraits, torsos and full body shots.

Some seem pensive while others exude self-confidence and revel in the sheer joie de vivre of posing nude in front of the camera.

Ultimately what makes this collection so intriguing is that each frame is not merely about photographing Hess's ever-transforming body, but that each image seems immersed in a story and is nuanced by the unique looks that Hess sheds in front of the

lens. He goes from being the all-American boy next door, with a conservative haircut and soulful doe eyes, to a tattooed, scarred, and enigmatic man immersed in an aura of transformation, transfiguration and spiritual tenacity.

Massengill met Hess through sheer serendipity. A model named Brent had come to Massengill to have his portfolio shot. As Brent pulled out his driver's license to prove to the photographer that he was indeed 18 years of age, a senior photo of his friend Hess fell out of the wallet.

Massengill, turning to Brent, said, “I'd be happy to shoot your portfolio. Just bring me this and I'll shoot whatever you want." guy The rest as they say, is history—a history of a deep and continuing friendship enveloped in the warm embrace of photographic lighting and watched over by the careful gaze of a camera's lens.

Massengill spoke with me from New York about his work, his passions and the subject of his latest book.

Kaizaad Kotwal: How did this book come about?

Reed Massengill: David Spriggle, the editor and owner of FotoFactory Press had seen Brian's photos and he suggested we do the book. Neither Brian nor I ever felt that there was a book in my continuing photography of him.

What keeps drawing you to Brian, having shot him for ten years now?

I am continually drawn to his sheer beauty and his genuineness as a person. I constantly find him interesting, from someone nice to look at to someone who is a friend. Also, his comfort level with me is really high as is the trust we share.

Tell me a little about the physical transformations of Brian.

The physical changes are a manifestation of something deeper, they are about his evolution as a person. The past ten years have been his process of slowly self-actualizing into an adult, a father. Most of us don't pay attention to the canvass that is our body: Brian is more aware of his body and uses it as a canvass to express his personal voyage and growth.

How often do you see each other?

We only see each other when we shoot together. We don't call once a week or once a month, but regardless of time we are able to pick up wherever we left off. It's really not as complicated or as deep as being twins separated at birth, etc. We simply get along and don't get on each other's nerves. It's really kinda simple.

Included in this book are some images of yourself with Brian. Is this a new trend in your work?

I now shoot a roll of film of myself with every model I work with. When people would look at my photographs it was totally about the subjects. But it's more complicated than that. It is about a relationship

between the photographer and the subjects. So if I get hit by a bus I want to leave some evidence of my relationships with these models.

Can you talk a bit about your substantial collection of vintage photography?

Yes. I have a vast collection, more than 10,000 images, representing most of the important photographers of the male physique from Bruce of L.A. to Bob Meiser. I invest a lot of time and money into this passion. When someone buys my prints I turn my money back into buying some of these great photos.

What is behind this passion?

I realize how much of a debt I owe to these photographers who were persecuted, jailed, and harassed for doing what they did. I am very humble about how freely I can do it and very mindful of that heritage. Because a lot of these past images were linked to the gay community the work was destroyed willfully or out of carelessness or shame. I am trying very diligently to chronicle and archive this very important development in photography. It will be some time before we realize how important these photographers were in the bigger scheme of things.

This is why I am so serious and passionate about collecting such works. By comparison, my stuff's not important.

Massengill is very humble and even selfdeprecating about his own work. We talked about Elton John's passion for male photography and his huge collection.

Massengill said that he would refer other photographers to John before selling him his own stuff. Massengill is a great champion of the works of Cuban-born photographer Robert Cusivo, Rob Lang, Roy Blakely, Ken Duncan, Jack Mitchell and others.

Massengillis working on many other book ideas. He knows that in order to have freedom in the long term he needs to build up his "nest egg" in the short term.

"It's a common sense thing far too few artistic people do," he says emphatically.

Massengill ends the introduction to his book on Brian Hess with: "While I am still captivated by his physical beauty, I am equally fascinated by the man he has become. I know that I will still want to photograph him even when he's 38 or 42 or 56. Brian will always be beautiful to me, and I love him in the best way a gay photographer can love his favorite straight model: I love him with my camera." That love is abundantly on display in this very unique and beautiful collection of photos. Hess continues to transform, both from within and on the outside. One can only hope that Massengill continues to document this individual and that we get to share in this fabulous collaboration in the future as well.

BRIAN

by Reed Massengill