Current-day muscle gods pose in old-fashioned elegance in this new book from David Vance. Buff, elegant hunks pose in classic and and romantic light for a photographer well known for his stylish work. Vance took these pictures in B&W and has made the men look like erotic fantasy statues.
David Vance has produced a fine book of black and white photography of the male nude, the black and white format emphasizing his recreation of timeless attitudes and poses of athletic young men. The Kouros of Greek origin were statues of young athletes usually placed in courtyards or public spaces to either celebrate the glory of the male physique of prominent athletes, or to engender fertility!
At first glance the poses in which Vance captures his models may seem theatrical to the extreme, but given the concept of the volume - that the male physique at its peak form has been a model of excellence since time began - the poses soon capture the imagination and the possible sculptural ideas begin to leap of the page.
These models are beautifully muscled and developed athletes whose forms in the natural state before the camera vie for the best in the sculptures of the great artists of the past and present. Erotic, yes. Pushed to the extremes of definition, yes. Prettified at times, yes. But it all works. Vance has a keen eye for the juxtaposition of hard flesh with soft drape and soft light and his photographs are for the most part timeless in nature. A fine exhibition, this, and one that deserves attention as much as his famous celebrity photography ventures.
