Today’s post is the first in what I hope will be a series featuring other sites, blogs, and media pertaining to intergenerational attraction and/or relationships. I’m on the look-out for unique contributions to the field and I think the work of Nate Ndosi is a stellar way to start the series off. His work offered a great opportunity to reflect on sensuality, gay artists, and the way older gay men are represented. Also, be sure to continue reading below to find a brief interview with the artist.
Larry by Nate Ndosi
One of the greatest challenges for minority artists is overcoming the tendency of others to pigeonhole them as producing art that is only relevant to their minority group. The photography of Nate Ndosi certainly explores/reveals gay intergenerational attraction, but the strength of his work prevents him from being labeled “just another gay photographer”. The overall body of Ndosi’s work covers a broad range of subjects from stunning interiors and landscapes to everyday objects. However it is his photos of older gay men that, by a number of measures, truly stand out.
Many gay photographers fall into stereotyped tropes when photographing their male subjects. When any level of sensuality is present it is though expected roles of eroticism are projected upon the subjects via a codified “gay male gaze”; to borrow from Laura Mulvey. I have even seen older gay men posed in, or they themselves acting out, roles depicted in fashion photography, film, or pornography. Refreshingly, Ndosi avoids, for the most part, this tendency.
Michael by Nate Ndosi
Instead his men appear natural, comfortable and at times candidly unaware of the camera. This doesn’t mean that there isn’t a dimension of sensuality to the photographs. But Ndosi evokes this through lighting and composition more than through poses or established expectations of the erotic.
It is truly Ndosi’s technical skill that makes these photographs so evocative. Many of his photos of older men are black and whites. Ndosi discovers interesting features in these men and illuminates them through sharp contrast and crisp focus. Short focal lengths often enhance a sense of intense concentration, drawing those alluring details to the foreground. The rest of the image almost dissolves giving Ndosi’s men a somewhat ephemeral quality. Ndosi’s color photos also over vivid renderings of men, enhancing mood through his control of color.
When I first came across it, I was so intrigued by Nate Ndosi’s work I knew I wanted to write about it. I was also intrigued by Nate and his flickr site, the fact that he was addressing his attraction to older men openly. I decided to ask him a few questions. What follows is a brief interview conducted by electronic correspondence.
Gay to December: How did you get started in the media of photography?
Nate Ndosi: I started being inspired by photography by a close friend of mine, Rhea Pappas, who is about to graduate from the Minneapolis College of Arts and Design with a photography degree. Seeing the work of artists like her, Annie Leibowitz, Richard Avedon, and Robert Mapplethorpe (to name a few) inspired me to buy a small Canon digital camera and play around during my freshman year at Haverford College (I am currently a junior).
During the summer after my freshman year, Rhea gave me her old Nikon to start shooting better quality pictures, and that is when I started seriously photographing.
Bruce by Nate Ndosi
GtD: When did you begin photographing older gay men? How do you feel people have responded to those works?
NN: The idea of “Older Beauty” started when I attended my second Pride in my hometown of Minneapolis. I was constantly reminded by the endless amounts of advertisements with young gay men with perfect bodies (either the “twink” or “hunk”). I started to ask myself why there wasn’t any older men shown at Pride, when they were a part of the most influential time periods for the modern gay movement (Stonewall and the AIDS crisis).
Then I remembered my first Pride, when I was chatting up the Minneapolis PrimeTimers (a group of gay and bisexual men 50 and older, plus their admirers like myself) I heard a young, distinctively flamboyant voice call out, “Oh, he’s just a grandpa-fucker!” As I was the only young man at the PrimeTimers booth, I knew he was talking about me.
I realized how split the gay community was from generation to generation; nowadays many gay men my age (a part of the “out” generation as I like to call them) do not have any respect for their elders. They forget that they went through some of the toughest times to ensure that we young people have a better life as gay men – to ensure that we don’t have to lie about our identities as they had to. “Older Beauty” is an homage, an honest one, portraying many different every-day men as wise, and, above all, beautiful.
People who have seen photographs from my project have responded extremely positively. I even had the privilege of getting two of my portraits into the Leslie/Lohman Gay Art Foundation’s “Great Gay Photo Show” This past January/February in the Soho area of NYC, where I received one of my biggest compliments – that my work was honest. It’s exactly what I want it to be.
GtD: Are you currently working professionally as a photographer?
NN: Not currently. I’ve only been photographing seriously for about a year, and the majority of that time has been spent on my photo project. But I have done a few odd jobs here and there for people – I certainly wouldn’t mind becoming a full-on pro.
GtD: I’m curious to know what your photo sessions are like. To what extent do you instruct your subjects’ poses or expressions?
NN: An interesting question. I would say that my sessions can be extremely fluid sometimes, and static other times – I always ask my models where they feel the most comfortable, and this, in my opinion, leads to a greater sense of communication and honesty between a photographer and a model. I’ve done shoots in people’s backyards, living rooms, public parks, hotel rooms, and even my own college campus.
I also tend to ask models if they like poses I give them, and also ask them their ideas for poses to give them a try – I think this keeps people honest for the camera.
Hiram by Nate Ndosi
GtD: What sort of control do you exert over the environment.
NN: As said before, I like to take the ideas my models give me for the environment of the shoot. I may make suggestions, but in the end if the model doesn’t like it, I don’t shoot it.
GtD: Besides your online presence, have you been involved in any art or photography shows?
NN: My art show debut was this past January/February in NYC at the Leslie/Lohman Gay Art Foundation’s “Great Gay Photo Show” where two of my prints were accepted. I’ve also been published in my undergraduate school’s literary/art publication, the Haverford Review.
GtD: Do you fear being pigeon holed as solely a gay photographer?
NN: I guess I think about that sometimes, but I realize that I love to take pictures of people too much to limit myself to gay men – and so this is only one project that I’m focusing on, but I’m sure it won’t be my whole career. At least I hope not!
GtD: Where do you see yourself going with your photography?
NN: I guess I’d love to become a full-on portrait photographer like Leibovitz and Avedon – that would definitely be my dream job. I can also see myself becoming a photojournalist, as I’m currently working on an undergraduate degree in English Literature at Haverford College.
GtD: Thanks, Nate for your time and thoughtful responses. Those who would like to see more of Nate Ndosi’s work, you should check out his photoblog at flickr.com/photos/nndosi/
July 15, 2008 at 9:49 am
Nice photos – I’ve added the Nate Ndosi’s site to my list of “older men” art photo sites at http://www.graygay.com/links_art.htm.
I recommend another quality collection by Jason at http://www.amonggentlemen.com
Regards
Pewit
September 14, 2008 at 7:11 am
As a gay man who has done his share of photo shoots, I find Nate Ndosi’s work utterly fascinating.
In working with both gay and straight photographers, I have frequently noted a contradiction in their approaches. That is, the straight photographer will generally push me to pose in a rather stereotypically gay manner; i.e., wrist limp, hip swiveled, jaw arched, etc. Now, since I only appear in gay-themed spreads, unless the shot calls for a specifically homosexual text, there is no need to force me into effeminate poses. The viewer/reader already knows I’m gay, it’s an article about some aspect of gay culture or photo set showcasing gays. But the straight photographer doesn’t seem to trust his eye.
Ah, but then there is the photographer who happens to be gay. A totally different mindset. His prism of vision is the same as mine. He doesn’t feel the need to showcase my effeminacy (which isn’t something I am ashamed of nor consciously project or mask), he knows he will capture both the outer and the inner me.
Which is a long-winded way of saying that Nate Ndosi is comfortable in his own skin and clearly puts his subjects (gay or straight) very much at ease. Though he is a gay man, he is not a gay photographer, he is
simply a photographer. And a damned fine one, at that.
While I, naturally, am intrigued and fascinated and so very impressed with his work with older gay men (of which I am one), I am also just as impressed with his (so-called) mainstream photos. Mr. Ndosi has an eye for what lurks beneath the surface, what lurks beneath beauty — human and natural.
Great stuff!
December 10, 2008 at 10:26 pm
i think the are wondereful photos and would love to see more they are wonderful
photos best of luck to you