'Lull’d in these flowers with dances and delight.'
William Shakespeare
In A Midsummer's Night Dream, Shakespeare used the word Lull’d to describe how the forest caused a soothing and calming effect, in the particular case of the quote, on the fairy queen Titania. In the play, the forest represents magic and transformation, contrasting with the structured world beyond the trees and the woods. Within the woods, the world is not limited by the laws of nature, but is wild and untamed.
Like the characters in A Midsummer's Night Dream, so many of gravitate towards art, and visuals of the nude male form, to escape. Escape the pressures and restrictions so many of us must contend with in our daily lives. I've written before, that FH was created out my personal need for a creative release. With a full time job assisting others with their emotional struggles, I needed a creative outlet, to both explore and as a release.
The phrase 'flora and fauna' refers the plant and animal life in a specific area or location. It's the way of describing all living things, both plants and animals that exist within a particular ecosystem or environment. In Shakespeare's forest, the flora was both beautiful and chaotic, The fauna; fairies, actors and young Athenian lovers.
Shifting to a more recent environment, Jim's, (Studio1x) old studio on the West Coast, the fauna were mostly of the male variety. The plants, a variety of florals and greenery. The flora was often used to contrast and accentuate the nude male form.. Over the years, I've featured many of Jim's flesh themed floral shoots.
I've featured Jim's work with Dex, holding his long stemmed sunflowers, (HERE:) and Alexander with a single rose. (HERE:) Earlier this year, FH slid into spring with a feature spotlighting Chris, also tightly griping just one red rose. (HERE:) Regular FH readers have previously enjoyed Chris and his long stem, as I've featured his work multiple times over the last six years.
It's not really by chance, that Jim, as well as many other photographers, use flowers and plants in their work capturing the male form. There's an organic connection between man and nature, and man and his environment going back biblically to Adam, the very first male form created. The flora connected with Adam is of course the fig leaf from the Ficus carica tree. Those first nude forms were created in a forest paradise and we humans have been drawn back to the woods ever since.
Of course according to the Book of Genesis, that fig leaf was used to obscure the male genitals. Fig, and other leaves, were also used in many cultures, including art, especially in Western paintings and sculptures. Artists would use the leaf to hide the genitals, and keep the censors and those pearl clutching puritans at bay. What it took them awhile to figures out, was that those big leaves actually heightened the sexual aspects and arousal. As we learned from Adam, there's nothing more succulent and satisfying than a bite, or in this case a peak, at the forbidden fruit.
As can you beautifully see, Jim and Chris don't use their flora to hide or conceal. The large banana leaf Chris is posing with may obscure his equally impressive penis briefly, but here is no embarrassment or shame associated with the nude male form here. The leaf actually works more like a theatre curtain, swinging out the way to give the audience a clear and unobstructed view. To see more of Jim's work with Chris, this time with the flora being fern, not fig, head on over to the NEXT PAGE HERE:
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