Epsom-based Laura Dodsworth first came to the nation’s attention with Bare Reality – a poignant study of womanhood. Now she’s back with a new work that puts men in the spotlight
I first met photographer and storyteller Laura Dodsworth over two years ago. She had just published Bare Reality: 100 Women, Their Breasts, Their Stories, a study of women’s relationships with their breasts. The women were anonymous and shot naked from the neck down to the waist.
The book caught the public’s imagination and hit the bookshops just as the celebrity-backed Free the Nipple campaign made the headlines. Its themes were discussed in all the media and it was even made into a play, which was staged to great acclaim at Bourne Hall in Ewell.
I remember that my final question to Laura was: “So, have you got any plans for your next project?” She politely declined to answer, but it didn’t take a genius to work out where her camera might lead her next.
Manhood: The Bare Reality features 100 men aged 20-92 from across the UK. They have been photographed naked from the waist down and have been asked to talk about how their penises have affected their lives.
“This was in my mind,” acknowledges Laura. “But it had come as a surprise to me that I wanted to do it. A lot of my work has been focused on women, about women’s stories, so I supposed my next thing would involve women.
“I felt in the first book I had inhabited the world of women so fully. They are such rich and fully embodied stories that it left me feeling emotionally and creatively out of balance and it was something I had to address myself. I couldn’t know women’s stories so well and not know what the men’s stories would be. There was a vacuum in the narrative.”
Bare Reality initially grew out of Laura’s need to understand what it means to be a woman. She had long struggled with the media’s notion of the ideal woman, whose breasts were invariably ‘perfect’ and she wondered how something primarily designed to feed our young had become a commodity used to sell everything from cars to newspapers.
But with the second project, Laura realised she was coming at it from a very different place. She wasn’t aware of men’s stories because, as she says, men just don’t talk about “stuff”. And so she set about finding men who were not only happy to be photographed but to talk about their penises.
“It was actually easier,” says Laura, admitting that their willingness to feature may have had something to do with the fact that she already had a book out. “People could see where I was going with it. They can look it up on Amazon and say, ‘Okay, it’s a serious project, there’s nothing weird about it’.
“But I also really feel that the way they came forward wanting to be interviewed shows that there was a real appetite to be heard. There are lots of stereotypes about what being a man means, while at the same time there is a lot of confusion about gender now. Yet there is still a real lack of heartfelt, confessional testimony. I think they wanted to tell their stories.”
And what stories they are. Contained within the 300-plus pages are narratives addressing expected issues such as gender, sex and size but there are also stories of survival, heartbreak and loss. And as you read it seems that for many of the men, standing naked before Laura was the least invasive part of the process.
“Women are so used to talking openly with their girlfriends,” Laura explains. “The wine is opened and off we go. No stone left unturned, no detail omitted. But, although it’s a massive generalisation, I just don’t think that’s what men do. But this anonymous space gave them the opportunity.
“Women’s breasts are their most public private parts. They are forever being talked about or prodded. They are featured on posters in uplift bras, airbrushed in bikinis and used to sell stuff. But the penis is a much more taboo area. So what’s the point of reference for men? The changing room or the urinal – and everyone knows you’re not supposed to look round in there. The tiny ones on statues or the giant ones featured in porn or padded out in underwear ads? Without a point of reference, many men internalise and feel shame.”
One of the most noticeable things when reading the book is the inadequacy many of the men feel. Nearly every volunteer references size or shape and whether they have come to terms with it. But what is clear, is that just as with breasts, there is no such thing as normal.
Another recurring theme is the father and son relationship. Some of the men talk about a violent or emotionally barren childhood, often where the ‘man of the house’ had felt the need to uphold some outdated notion of patriarchy. One man even states he had a vasectomy to “sever the lineage of my father”.
Laura freely admits that she was shocked, not by what she saw, butby much of what the men revealedabout themselves. “I wasn’t prepared for that level of honesty. I’ve had a good level of conversation with good friends and with partners, but I have not had that level of intimacy. And it ran through every interview. Their vulnerability really surprised me. It’s very humanising when people share their innermost thoughts. There was something very tender about hearing men talk like that.”
As with Bare Reality, the stories from those interviewees who have battled or are still battling cancer really stay with you. Very early in the book we meet a 36-year-old who has fought off testicular cancer twice. He talks candidly about how he avoided telling anyone about a lump he had found in case they suggested going to the doctor, but once diagnosed “the nine months I’d ignored the lump flashed before me like I was a drowning man.” Although he has since beaten the disease, he reveals that on the day he received the all-clear, his mum was told there was nothing more the doctors could do about her own cancer.
Laura freely admits that she cried on hearing some of the stories and how those by men suffering from prostate cancer had a huge impact on her. “I was surprised just how devastating the effects are. And I would just urge men to get checked and the earlier the better.”
But alongside the tales of heartbreak and anguish there are many characters who will bring a smile to your face. From those who celebrate their manhood (some make a good living from their penises) to others whose main aim was to please their lovers. “That’s really sweet. As a woman, I loved hearing that,” confesses Laura. “I was also very surprised by the amount of ‘manscaping’ [shaving and waxing] – I had no idea that was going on.”
The book leaves you with a feeling of positivity as many of the men have come to terms with whatever issues they had with their penises and, ultimately, their lives. “I hope those stories will be like a beacon for younger men. I hope they will look at the book and go, ‘Right, there are a lot of shapes and sizes out there and I’m okay’, and also read the stories because these men have done a lot of healing work and have really come to terms with themselves. It’s inspirational.”
As I prepare to leave, I casually ask Laura if she knows what her next project will be. She smiles enigmatically and once again, declines to answer. Watch this space…
- Manhood: The Bare Reality by Laura Dodsworth is published by Pinter & Martin, £14.99. Visit amazon.co.uk
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