“Prelude: Jack, Muse Around Me”

“Prelude: Jack, Muse Around Me” is my latest body of work, which depicts a relationship between my muse, Marcus LeBlanc, and me. I consider the relationship between Marcus and me to be a loveship because it is purely based off of love disconnected from sex. In certain situations, his amorous disposition is apparent, and in other situations, it is not. Faint interjections such as, “I love you”, and subtle gestures such as small tap of his fingers on my back affirm our loveship. However, Marcus has not told me that we are friends, which leaves my mind to wonder. This loveship is unusual because, in retrospect, I was always certain of who was and who wasn’t my friend, but with Marcus, I do not know.

            Marcus mentally fights against society’s idea of masculinity, which shapes his thoughts of how he should express his love toward me. Marcus also shuns the idea of an intimate male relationship because close male relationships are associated with homosexuality. Yet, I am amazed that He would be open to allow me to execute my idea of our loveship.  This unannounced friendship has inspired me to create a body of work showing the proximity of our loveship. The word muse in my title not only suggests Marcus as my inspiration, but it suggests the viewer to look at my photographs and try to discern the depth of our relationship. Although I do not know him personally, I know we have a great relationship because he is so willing to pose for me­­

I have given Marcus the general name of John; The names in my titles represent society. “Prelude: Jack, Muse Around Me” is a photographic rebuttal to society’s view of how men should express their love toward one another. Titles such as, “Hello”– in many different languages - and “Jill, why doesn’t Carl take care to astound you? Cilia, why doesn’t he even try?” creates a dialogue between the viewer, the photograph and me. I view Marcus as a solo male figure in a mental state of solitude longing to act on his instinct of love; he is guarded, and appears to be vulnerable until I come into his space to comfort him by my presence. I manipulated my images to be black and white because of the ambiguity of our friendship, and I made sure to pay careful attention to how I use light in the studio to show my idea of love. I also photographed Marcus nude, and I have posed with him in some frames; the physical contact between my model and I implies trust. By the way, I think Marcus’ body and poses are remarkably beautiful. He opens up my mind to help me understand different types of beauty.  Actually, I made him eat a lot for the shoot. I think of Marcus as a token. His eagerness to pose nude for me make me feel confident, fearless, and