This participatory project began almost by chance, while testing a lens. I photographed a man I knew well in his home, just after he had finished cleaning. He was naked.
That image, marked by the intimacy of the moment and the traces of domestic gestures, became the starting point of the series.
From that moment on, I invited different men to pose naked while cleaning their homes, questioning masculinity, intimacy, and the relationship to domestic space.
Participants were informed that their faces could be hidden or removed in post-production.

Over the course of two years, I contacted forty-two men between Marseille and Bologna. Twenty-nine refused, for different reasons: modesty, lack of interest, personal difficulties, or discomfort with their own image. These refusals are also an integral part of the project and reveal the tensions that still surround the representation of the male body.
Thirteen men agreed to participate. Some preferred not to be photographed in their own homes, while others adapted or reconstructed the domestic setting. One participant, with feminine attributes, challenges traditional representations of masculinity and opens a reflection on the distinction between sex and gender.

I chose to stop at the number thirteen because of its symbolic value of rupture and transformation. In this context, thirteen suggests the possibility of redefining the very meaning of the word “man” within a binary system, questioning its codes and representations.

The project also includes testimonies from the participants. From the very beginning, I felt that this work belonged first and foremost to them. I sincerely thank them for the trust, openness, and generosity with which they chose to expose themselves.
A series of videos completes the work: a woman — trans, drag performer, or actress — reflects on the exhibition while kneading bread dough, adding another layer of reading and interpretation.

The project remains open. I hope that other men, inspired by this series, will feel the desire to participate, perhaps choosing this time to show their faces.
The first reactions, ranging from appreciation to sexist mockery, reveal how difficult it still is to display male nudity, especially when associated with activities traditionally attributed to women.