#eric roman beining

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Dusty Lachowicz by Eric Roman Beining

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#SelfieJune 16 of 30. With elk skull.

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#tbt #JurassicPark alert! Last summer the Mitchell Domes had a dinosaur exhibition. 

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Quiet Beauty (2011)

"… [M]ale primping never loosens the male lock on initiative taking. Indeed, glorying in one's appearance is an ancient warrior's pleasure, an expression of power, an instrument of dominance." – Susan Sontag, Women, 1999.

Even though my body is seen in only half of the photographs presented, the images are a detour from what Sontag's presupposition that this body of work would be about touting my powers as a man. I do not preen over myself, but instead present myself as a juxtaposition to the ideal. 

When seen in the photographs, my body is presented in such a way that the viewer can engage with me and consider my state of being, without being confrontational. When I am absent from an image, the forms that are seen represent society's ideal version of the body - and more specifically, the epitome of gay male beauty.

I have come to accept that I do not conform to the ideal - sculpted abs, bulging biceps - that my peers expect from each other. I also believe there's more to ideal beauty than what can be quantified by a tape measure. Positing the viewer directly in front of my form as well as the ideal form will help them to see that beauty.

The quiet beauty of this work is anything but the warrior's pleasure to which Sontag refers.