Manhood: The Bare Reality

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And what came first, the photo shoots or the interviews? The interviews were done clothed, right? “Yes! I always did the photograph first. For some people it’s quite important to get it out the way, so it wasn’t hanging over them. I think it makes it more successful – somebody feels that they’ve already bared their body, it helps them to open up and tell their story.” Everyone’s different In Manhood: The Bare Reality, photographer Laura Dodsworth views the concept of masculinity via the penis. I had no idea how many men believed they're too small. It's very common. And the men who thought they were too small looked really normal size to me. There are men that said who would've moved differently in the world of men if they were bigger." After two years photographing women’s breasts for her , Laura was ready to move on. Or move lower, to be more specific. She decided she wanted to hear men’s stories, too – and set herself the task of photographing 100 men and their penises.

Manhood: The Bare Reality provides an important contribution to the emotional and physical exploration of men and masculinities. Intimate interviews offer insight into how men navigate sex, desire, hopes and anxieties; these diverse inner lives are complemented with images that document equally diverse bodies. Read it to understand men better, both inside and out." - Dr Joseph Gelfer, researcher of men and masculinitiesShe says: ‘I think this is the end because I don’t think there is anywhere particularly left for me to go on the body. I have opened up that conversation about being a man and a woman by taking these uniquely male and female body parts. I knew when starting ‘Manhood’ that I would be surprised, delighted, inspired and moved. We never know someone’s story till we ask.

As this is a driving force and predominant theme behind the mission of ABSOT, these lines aren’t new information. Nor are these notions just the musings of random men. The MENtion It survey from the Cleveland Clinic has consistently shown over the past three years that men just choose not to open up about their health. I don't think one person can have the final say on what masculinity is, so instead there are 100 men's stories and voices. I don't think a clear definition of masculinity is required but I hope it gives readers more compassion and kindness for men in their lives and really raises some questions." The same themes run through everything I do: my work is an exploration of people, our loves, our lives and our place in the world. In everything I do I desire to connect deeply with people, practise integrity, and interpret and present their stories with truth and memorable images."

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Men just want to be men and not be a person with a penis and they don't want to worry about size and all the issues that society has put on them because of the fact they have a penis. Penises have caused a lot of men a lot of grief. The process of taking the photographs wasn’t quite as awkward as you might expect. The emphasis was on comfort and openly discussing bodies and manhood, rather than any pressure to show off the penis as a glorious, huge presence, and each man was kept anonymous while sharing their stories. We caught up with Laura to find out what she has learned about gender and humanity from photographing the parts of themselves people usually keep hidden. 1. It's so much more than just a body part As a small child, you were told, ‘Big boys don’t cry.’ I think this is why men sometimes have a higher incidence of some of the serious illnesses because we don’t like to complain about being ill.”