'The flowers began as just a random theme on one of my very first shoots.'
Fans of photographer Andrew Bowman are accustomed to seeing bright, colorful flowers sprout up as a recurring and creative concept within his images. I'd always wondered where the theme originated, and always assumed it must have stemmed from the love of beautiful blossoms. Not exactly...
The flowers began as a random choice early in Andrew's career as a way of providing a little penis privacy. Many models want to keep their junk in the trunk, and some penis's as we know, aren't always a model's most attractive asset. The modesty bouquet became routine on fitness shoots, and instead of a model using their hand cup their penis, the flowers provided a pop of color and a more interesting visual to the shots.
They were also unique. Many photographers, especially those going for that 'masculine' feel, would use helmets, hockey sticks or sports equipment to let us know we were looking at a manly man. Andrew liked the quirky contrast of the flowers and the color and eventually started using them with almost every model he shoots. Even with models who are fine with showing their penis, they provide a covering in some shots which allows Andrew to share the images on Instagram or other sites which don't allow full frontal nudity.
Despite it being 2020, flowers are still seen by many as falling into the feminine category which makes their use even more visually compelling. Society accepts a retired man having an interest in flowers, yet, can still struggle with a guy under 60 passion for the petal. Most of us have learned that the measure of a man isn't determined by whether he's holding a football, or a bouquet of daffodils, but it is something that takes awhile for some to truly understand.
I'm still a couple of decades from retirement, but over the last two years, there are two flowers (three if you include a poinsettia at Christmas) that make yearly appearances in my home. Both, are thanks to my mother. When I was in high school, one of my drama class assignments was to co-direct two scenes from Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night. At the end of the showcase, my co-director, (a female) and I were both presented with a card, and a bouquet of red tulips. The showcase took play in May and tulips were in full bloom.
It was the first time I'd ever been given flowers, and remember feeling a little uncomfortable carrying them around backstage. This feeling only intensified when I arrived home and my older brother laughed, mocked and made fun of my gift. I still remember him calling them 'faggy flower's' and given I was still firmly in the closet, laughed along with him. My mother however, who really wasn't into flowers, told my brother to be quiet, and told me I should be proud the actors thought enough of my work to give them to me.
That's all it took. Those red tulips stood tall on my bureau for weeks, long after the red had faded, and they wilted down the side of the vase. A few years ago, during the month of May, I spotted a bucket of fresh tulips at the end of the check-out line at the grocery story. My instantly went back to that night in the nineties, and I've been picked up a red bunch, and have been buying them every May since.
The second flower that brightens up my living room is the sunflower, which I now purchase every August. As I mentioned, my mother wasn't a big flower lover, except for sunflowers. When she died a couple of years ago, my siblings and l all left the service with bouquets of sunflowers that had been sent to the family. I took two of them home, and again, kept them long beyond their shelf date. I now buy a bouquet each August, and have been planting them outside beside my back deck the last two springs.
Whether it be in our living rooms, or within an image focused on the male form, flowers bring a pop both color, and even more so, life and energy. Although with an especially hot model, we may be wishing to see more stem than petal, you can't deny the power of the flower. Within Andrew's images, they also provide a sense of gentle strength and it's interesting visually to see how individual model holds, and interact with their bouquets.
We've all had memorable experiences with flowers, whether it be their beauty, or their scent. Given their connection to events boy joyful and painful, they have a natural ability to provoke memories and stimulate emotions beyond the their time as a temporary bouquet.
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