I post a lot of nude photography of men. I have always preferred images that look less professional or posed and I keep away from selfies, except in the pics of guys with cameras that I post on Tuesdays. Occasionally, I receive criticism for posting male nudes while at the same time talking about my faith each Sunday. I think the male body should be celebrated, and some of my readers come to see the photos I will post. If that means they also read my devotionals on Sundays, then it spreads the message I try to convey. That being said, I thought I’d start a weekly series on the male nude in art throughout the history. I doubt I will go in chronological order, but more of an introduction today focusing on the photography of male nudes.
Photography has been a crucial medium in LGBTQ+ art, providing a powerful way to explore identity, desire, and resistance. Male nude photography, in particular, has played a significant role in shaping the visual language of queer art, challenging societal norms, and creating spaces for LGBTQ+ expression. From the early coded works of the 19th century to the bold imagery of contemporary artists, male nude photography has been a key site of queer visibility and activism.
Art has been part of the appreciation of the male body throughout history. The male nude has been a central subject in the history of art, serving as a symbol of idealized beauty, power, and the human condition. In ancient Greece and Rome, male nude sculptures celebrated physical perfection and heroism, embodying philosophical ideals of harmony and virtue. During the Renaissance, artists like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci revived classical traditions, using the male form to explore anatomy, movement, and divine inspiration. While religious and mythological themes often justified depictions of male nudity, these works also reflected shifting cultural attitudes toward masculinity, physicality, and artistic mastery.
In later centuries, the male nude became more controversial, especially in Western art, where shifting moral standards led to greater censorship. While female nudes remained common, male nudity was often restricted to academic studies or hidden in private collections. In the 19th and 20th centuries, artists like Édouard Manet, Egon Schiele, and later, queer photographers such as George Platt Lynes and Robert Mapplethorpe, used the male nude to challenge societal norms, explore eroticism, and assert LGBTQ+ visibility. Today, the male nude continues to be a powerful subject, reflecting changing perspectives on gender, identity, and artistic freedom.
Joe
The Closet Professor 
February 19th, 2025 at 1:46 pm
As a child and then in my youth, I keenly remember the joy I found when I discovered an image of a nude male. It always seemed bizarre that the penis, undoubtedly the most important organ to any male, was so strictly off limits.
Joe, you do a brilliant job of illustrating these blogs and I’m sorry that some of your readers struggle to embrace God given masculinity with the Christian faith…but I am not surprised! From the popes who had penises removed from Vatican statutes and all sorts of other examples, something scares men about confronting another penis. I personally think it’s an internalized fear of being gay themselves.
Anyway, thank you Joe! I hope others acknowledge the time you spend composing and illustrating these blogs. Best, Bruce
February 19th, 2025 at 2:16 pm
Americans as a whole have a problem with nudity, when it should just be natural. You don’t have to walk down the street naked or anything like that, but also you don’t have to shy away from the beauty of the male body. The Puritans really did a number on the legacy of extreme modesty they left for future generations. I have been reading David McCullough’s The Greater Journey and he discusses how embarrassed American artist were of other Americans who were shocked by the nudity in art that they saw in Paris.
February 20th, 2025 at 4:42 am
And yet, Joe, the USA is the source of most of the world’s pornography! There seems to be someting amiss there!!
February 20th, 2025 at 4:45 am
America is filled with hypocrites. The Republicans are the most anti-pornography and anti-LGBTQ+, yet when they have a convention in a city, there is a spike in online traffic to porn sites and male escorts are hired at record numbers. That’s not to say that Democrats don’t have hypocrites too, but the Republicans are the most vocal in their puritanical ways.
February 20th, 2025 at 4:40 am
Bruce
The holy of holies for Catholics must be the Sistine Chapel and that is awash with exposed penises. It would take a brave and, arguably, foolish leader to want to damage a work of genius.
February 21st, 2025 at 12:58 am
I think it was Pius IX who had the issue with penises on statutes…I can’t remember the story of then legend has it there is a room full of penises that have been chipped off waiting to be rejoined…Vatican….what a source of bewildering confusion!
February 21st, 2025 at 1:20 am
Of course, the ultimate act of prudery is the loin cloth almost always around Jesus on virtually all crucifixes…when we certainly know those that Rome crucified were NAKED….
February 19th, 2025 at 4:35 pm
I thank you for the photos you post and look forward to this new series.
February 19th, 2025 at 10:10 pm
I embrace and am enamored by the nude photos. Keep on keeping on, Joe.