Shooting Male is a collection and progression of Eric Schwabel's work with male models, from college through to today.

It begins with the first nude man I ever shot, an escort-for-hire named Matt York, and continues through some of my editorial and commercial assignments dealing with the male form. It’s an extension of the work I began with Blue magazine (Australia), which was my first publication back in college.

For me, it’s about worshiping the male form as beauty rather than devouring it as pornographic – of working with light and movement, and creating work that appeals to the visual senses but also occasionally helps raise one’s sensations and stirs a bit of imagination.

Perfection is never sexy. Imperfections, cuts and scrapes, bruises, hair growing where it grows, catching someone off guard when they mean to be posing for you and showing you what they think is ‘hot’ – these are the things that intrigue me and that I yearn to capture. It’s the culmination of everything I’ve ever seen that’s excited me. And yet, I also strive to shift it slightly from reality – to put the subject in a place one step removed from the real world. 

This book also illustrates a phenomenon brought about partially by the Internet, the non-pornographic ‘random hot dude’ photograph, and the ability to market oneself as a ‘model’ through forums, blogs and chat sites. I’ve been contributing to these collections of photographs for years, through various books, magazines and now, through the uber-popular ‘sexy people’ blogs. 

I’m 28 years old now, and though it seems too soon to publish a book, it feels good to show all of this work as a solid collection so that, mentally, I can move on to the next project. I hope it is loved and appreciated, and I look forward to the next time I’m given a forum to express myself.