BARBARA GUSSONI
PHOTOGRAPHY
13 MEN OF CLEANING
This project was conceived by chance. I wanted to test a new lens and I took some pictures of a very important man in my life. We were in his house. He was naked and had just finished to do the cleaning. I liked the portraits so much that I decided to make a series. So, I started to ask friends and acquaintances the permission to shoot them while they cleaned their homes, naked. I informed them that I would hide their face or take off their head during retouching, if necessary.
During two years I asked forty-two men. Thirty-four of them live in Marseille (France) and eight of them live in Bologna (Italy). I got in touch with these men directly or through common friends.
Twenty-nine refused. Three of them were too prudish and three others did not feel concerned. One was blind and could not appreciate the result. Two of them wanted to loose weight before the shoot. One had tattoos and was horrified at the idea of being photographed but immediately found a substitute. Two of them never answered my invitation. Another considered it a mad thing, that did not suit him at all. One seemed interested but he ended up not posing. Another man had body image issues. One had skin problems. One did not want his girl-friend to know, so I decided to let him go. Another changed his mind at the last moment without explaining. One does not know the reason of his refusal yet. One was too modest but so enthusiastic that he asked six of his friends. They all refused. Some thought that he was mad, the others felt too prude. One said yes to a common friend but he never answered my message. Finally, one said that ultra-feminism was so-so, “Bof!” in french.
Thirteen men accepted my invitation. Five of them live in Bologna and eight in Marseille.
Three of them did not want to be photographed at home where their wife and children live. One was homeless at that time. So, one came to do the cleaning in my house and three of them in common friends' houses.
One of these men has feminine attributes. His presence broadens and questions the preconceived idea and social representation of what it is to be a man, while opening up a reflection on the need to clarify the difference between the notion of sex and that of gender.
At number thirteen I decided to stop as I am interested in the symbolical meaning of this number which indicates a rupture in the harmony and obliges to a radical transformation. The transformation in this case could be in order to redefine the signification of the word 'man' in a binary system and to question the system itself.
In the end, I asked all the people who participated to tell me what they felt about the experience. Eleven answered and I reported the testimonials below. Since the beginning I knew that the project belonged to them and I sincerely thank them all for their generosity and for their trust in me.
I know it was not easy.
To conclude, I made a series of video clips in which a trans woman or a transvestite or an actor playing the role of a woman (depending on your point of view, and if it matters...) is reflecting on the exhibition while kneading bread.
THE PROJECT IS STILL A PROPOSITION.
MY HOPE IS THAT OTHER MEN, INSPIRED BY THIS SERIES, WILL FEEL THE URGE TO POSE NUDE IN THE SAME SCENARIO, AND PERHAPS THIS TIME THEY'LL WANT TO SHOW THEIR FACES.
THE REACTIONS OF THE FIRST PEOPLE WHO VIEWED THE SERIES ARE DOCUMENTED BELOW AND SHOW A RANGE OF RESPONSES FROM PRAISE TO SEXIST MOCKERY. THEY REVEAL JUST HOW CHALLENGING IT CAN BE TO EXHIBIT THE NUDITY OF MEN, ESPECIALLY IN OCCUPATIONS TRADITIONALLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE ROLE OF WOMEN.
(Honorable mention at the17th JULIA MARGARET CAMERON AWARD, 2022)
testimonials testimonials. testimonials testimonials testimonials
some reactions
Impressions of an ordinary woman
A Facebook acquaintance
"You're lucky to have seen all these men parading... but you've tasted them all... ?"
Cleaner #0
"I don't get naked to make myself known. Given the importance or perversion that your obsession with nudity takes I forbid you to post my nude photographs."
My partner at the time the project was published
"Forget me! I can't understand how a woman who wants a normal life can do such a thing.
Good luck!"
"Bravo, that's great! The photographs are beautiful and desecrate all the taboos built around the body and sexuality. It's convincing!"
(Séverine, friend and supporter of the project)
"With these portraits you try to capture male identity, which does not necessarily coincide with sex or gender.
Nudity is always the centre of interest even when the subject is on the side of the photograph. This keeps the tension alive even when sexual characters are missing.
But we know less and less about identity. There is no chance to see it clearly.
The out-of-focus, the blurred, the close-up take away any sense of certainty, disorientate the gaze. There is often a lack of convergence at a central point. The male figures stand at the sides and it is the complexity of the composition that counts. When the penis is not there, one goes looking for something else. The penis is a catalyst.
Sometimes, strong contrasts and dazzling light deform bodies. By taking away the contours of the flesh you take away its strength and the body comes out fragilised."
(One of the cleaners after viewing the photographs)
"This project deserves to be continued because the struggle does not stop!"
(Brigitte B.A., friend)
"Congratulations Barbara, you have done a disorienting job.... You are great!
Reviewing your work made me think about the importance of unhinging certain forms of meaning in which we 'swim'. Indeed, it would be interesting to investigate how much awareness we have of what belongs to us, and whether the body is one of those things; in many situations I think not."
(One of the cleaners after viewing the photographs)
