A Project Justified

This project was born partially by a throw-away comment while skinny-dipping on a local beach with a friend. I was crowing about being able to swim so early in the season & he said "But where's the photo? If it ain't on Instagram, it didn't happen". Realising I would not be able to display nude images on Social Media such as Instagram as the naked male is still painfully taboo. I rather liked the idea of trying to subvert. I had heard of artists posting pieces which deliberately push the rules, such as images of pornographic text or sound clips from porn movies.
I was also becoming aware, as I grow older, that my memory is not as reliable as it once was. With photography's longstanding use as an aide memoir I realised I could combine these elements to create a project as a memento mori. When I am old(er) and grey(er) I can reminisce about brief friendships born from mutual attraction and lusts. While I cannot photograph the act itself for obvious reasons, what I can do is photograph the space afterwards. Adding a final bitter cynicism to the project by bringing in the French term of la petite mort, the feeling of emptiness post orgasm. And so, these images are created and drip-fed onto Instagram & Facebook. Where certain select friends can appreciate the meaning...some, even having participated in their creation. But there is also the sly irony when I see them being 'liked' by acquaintances who have no clue of the true nature of the project....seeing as they do, just pretty landscapes. Each image is carefully edited to select the focus then filters added to reference today's app culture. Finally each is titled with an additional inference to prompt a reminder when I look back upon these chronicles in later years.