Symbol Of Power by EButterfield Photography

'A tie is like an arrow pointing to my crotch.'

Jarod Kintz

Ties are an interesting item of clothing. I remember as a kid proudly learning from my father how to tie a neck tie. During my teen years, tie's usually were only worn on positive occasions, church or a holiday, a dance or some special occasion.

Now that I am in my thirties, I have grown to dislike wearing ties. What once represented a special time, now represent restriction, not only of my neck, but sometimes freedom. I now try to wear ties as little as possible and usually only wear them with on certain days at work, important meetings and conferences. They are also of course worn at weddings and funerals, which at some point in my have achieved about equal parts pain & joy.

3 images above: Javier

My love of ties thankfully returned however when viewing this series by EButterfield Photography. I was reminded of the excitement I once had putting on a tie and the pleasure and relief that usually came from taking them off. I especially loved hearing from Evan about the meaning behind the theme.

'The tie series came about for a couple of reasons. The "Serious Artistic" reason was that I found the contrast between the formality of a tie and the nude model to be an important statement about how we decorate ourselves in the business world, and make judgments about a man's success and power based on the quality of his neckware--all the while ignoring the fact that we're all naked underneath, and that the body is a much more true symbol of power. The real reason is that I thought it was pretty funny to have a hot nude model wearing nothing but a tie.'

'As the owner of several very nice ties, it also offered an opportunity for me to show them off, and since most of my work is minimal in terms of color (skin tones and black backgrounds) the pop of a red or gold or blue silk tie was visually appealing. So as I work with various models, I always try to incorporate that particular shot. Sometimes the tie is used as camouflage, to cover up the naughty bits; sometimes it just points right down there.'

Evan Butterfield

EButterfield Photography on ModelMayhem

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