There’s a magical moment when you’re reading a hero myth and suddenly realize that the hero myth is reading you. This ebook project was the marriage between my interest in the mythology of the hero's journey and male figurative photography. This pairing allowed me to explore deeper introspective issues of masculinity. When going through the photographs that I had taken of men over the years, it seemed clear that there was a story being told here. I wanted to make a story something you could read, so I wrote a haiku for each photograph. These haikus created a narrative about overcoming fear, finding who you are and helping others. The resulting story that came out of this was a myth about a sun demon burning villages throughout the countryside. The threat calls an ordinary man to take action to save his homeland.
The hero's journey template that was identified by mythologist Joseph Campbell spans across all cultures. Since all men are on a quest of self discovery, I felt that using multiple male models seemed appropriate to represent this universal aspect. My hope is that this book holds up a mirror to who we are as men. Male Nude: Hero Myth of the Masculine Journey is available for presale on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Apple iTunes. For more information, please visit my website, www.figurativearc.com
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