Familiar Men: A Book of Nudes

In general, if we see male nudes at all in this culture, we see only the most muscular and buffed of the weight-lifting culture. To counter these limited images, internationally exhibited photographer Laurie Toby Edison provides this suite of nude photographs of a wide variety of men. The men represent a huge variety in age, race, ethnicity, body type, social class, and level of physical ability. The men photographed include college professors, rock musicians, aerospace and warehouse workers, computer consultants, retired businessmen, dancers, disability activists, museum directors, and tattoo artists. The text, by Debbie Notkin and Richard F. Dutcher, features a long essay, "To Be a Man," as well as an assortment of quotations on masculinity from models and others.