Al-Banjari

At the end of last week I watched Clapham Junction. The drama, from 2007, was shown as part of a short season by Channel 4 to mark the 40th anniversary of decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales. My initial interest, besides the subject matter, was a couple of actors, Rupert Graves and James Wilby whom I had been familiar with from other roles. It was not Rupert or James however that held my interest...

Above: David Leon

During one hot summer night director Adrian Shergold presents five stories from London. They weave together school and work, bars and clubs, affairs and a murder or two. The cast is great but actor David Leon stood out to me, and I wish we had seen more of his character. I, like Luke Treadaway's Theo, was also drawn to Tim (played so well by Joseph Mawle).

Above: Paul Nicholls & David Leon

It is a testament to the acting and writing that I was drawn to many of the characters. Most were not that likable. In fact, Clapham Junction caused a lot of controversy for it's negative portrayal of gay men. Most of them are quite negative and thanks to writer Kevin Elyot, also immensely compelling.

Below: Joseph Mawle

Below: Luke Treadaway

Thanks to Evil Twins' Male Celeb Screencaps for some of the shots.

'I love to capture the beauty of the human form. Creating an expressive image that shows a model off to their best is really rewarding.'
Bruce Denny

On his website, artist Bruce Denny shares that he spent his youth making things out of anything he could lay his hands on. He was fascinated by both the way things worked and their form and structure. His school years exacerbated the struggle between art and science. Science won...but the it was not a complete victory. The struggle, one of combining passion with expression continued through many jobs and many mediums. He eventually found himself working in the theatre, back to the arts! Bruce says it was during these struggles, during the searching, that he found sculpture, something that brings binds many of his loves together.

'Sculpture requires a methodical approach and good spatial awareness, traits usually exhibited by a good scientist. At the same time the original ideas and concepts and the final piece of work require artistic creativity. I have found a medium in which I can express my ideas and desires utilising all my skills and experiences.'

I love the two shots of Bruce above by Ivars Krutainis.

I enjoyed my time with Bruce's extensive breadth of work, photography, both human and wildlife, sculpture and his own modelling. You can see how he has embraced each of the concepts that sparked his interest while on his journey. Anatomy, biology, chemistry, and the complexities of human physiology are all merged together within his work through his creativity.

In putting together a profile to showcase Bruce's work it was impossible to showcase one medium without the other. It is clear the classical feel in his sculpture weaves throughout his photography as well. Below are two of my favorite examples of Bruce's photography and sculpture.

Dev by Bruce Denny P

23 years old Dev is comfortable in front of the camera and likes to work with artists who can bring out something new and special. Dev's muscular body lends itself to Bruce's vision beautifully and the resulting images and classic poses are incredibly beautiful and incredibly hot. Bruce says that Dev was open minded and an absolute pleasure to work with.

'When he requested a shoot with me, I looked at his portfolio and saw a wide variety of images with very different photographers, so my first challenge was to find a new angle. I decided on a sporty theme, taking him from a training session in the park to a locker room situation. When he arrived I was pleasantly surprised to find that his body was in much better shape than many of his pictures showed, so I decided to focus on using light and poses to display his strengths. The resulting images speak for themselves, and I think we were both very pleased with the outcome.'

Ripped:
Sculpting Dean Monroe

'My sculptures, whilst quite contemporary in their style have a classical feeling about them. The nude human form provides a timeless quality and working closely with my models allows me to achieve a very natural, lifelike energy in my work.'

'I've always used photography as a means to an end with my sculpture. I photograph my models, then use the images to produce my pieces. This allows me to set more dynamic poses that the models would not be able to hold for any length of time. Then of course the finished sculptures need to be photographed for marketing purposes. So I have a studio and the photographic equipment already. The economic recession has left me with a little more free time, so I decided to fill it by photographing models for there portfolios. This affords me an additional creative outlet, gives me access to models that I can potentially use for my sculpture and has the potential to offer me an additional revenue stream if my work proves popular.'

'I'm always looking out for guys and girls with good faces and great physiques for my sculpture. I saw some pictures of Dean Monroe on a modelling website and thought he would be ideal for my latest piece entitled "ripped". This is the first piece in a new collection of work that takes a rather more startling look at the way we perceive the "body beautiful" and the lengths we will go to to achieve it. When I discussed the concept with Dean, he got it right away and was delighted to participate. He is very experienced as a model which makes my job as an artist so much easier. Working with Dean was an absolute delight, and if I get the opportunity, I would definitely use him again.'

Many of you may already know of Dean Monroe, but if you don't be sure to check out his amazing blog. Besides filling it with tons of photos, Dean shares his experiences traveling the globe, modelling and working in the porn industry. Dean also writes a wonderful account of his time working with Bruce. Check out Dean's blog HERE:

Check out more of Bruce's work at his official site HERE: