PHOTOGRAPHY REVIEW : Formal, Sensual Moods Pervade in Male Nude Photos

SAN DIEGO —  Ah, the male nude.

From the classic proportions of Greek sculpture, to the gathering power of Michelangelo’s “David,” to the amputees and dwarfs by contemporary photographer George Dureau, the male figure has been portrayed variously by artists throughout history.

At the Photowest Gallery downtown, the more decorative aspects of form prevail in an exhibit of 42 images by San Diego photographers David Eliot and Jeff Palmer. Called “Interpretations of the Male Nude,” the exhibit of black and white photographs might also be titled “Formal and Sensuous” or “Warm and Cool.”

Eliot takes a cooler, more formal, tack, while Palmer approaches his subject as an object of sensuousness.

Palmer applies light and shadow to draw attention to well-muscled physiques or to portray a mood. Torsos ripple with sharply defined muscles. Tousled heads abound. Most of the moods are reflective.

In one print, a row of thin, vertical shadows stripe the chest and face of a model, lending a feminine quality and a pensive mood. Soft lighting bathes another reclining model, his back arched before a black background, with the head thrown back perhaps in ecstasy.

Most of Palmer’s work is attractive without being compelling. In one case an image works better upside down.

A supine model lies in darkness with his head nearest the lens and feet farthest away. The arms are outstretched. Oddly enough, the picture, which had been hung upside down, has more power when inverted. When viewed upside down, it calls to mind Icarus flying through the dark.

The least interesting pieces by Palmer, such as one in which hazy daylight from a window washes a man deep in thought, resemble saccharine gift cards.

Palmer’s strongest image is of a man standing by a French door. The unforgiving rectangular patterns of windows and the hard glass make a sharp contrast with the vulnerable, naked body.

By comparison, Eliot takes a more formal approach in his nude studies. He positions his camera and crops his photographs primarily to focus on the body’s various lines and shapes.

A portrait taken from a low angle suggests a Greek statue. His close-up of a torso is an intimate study of the curving lines of chest, biceps and haunch.

One full-frontal image of a black man is at odds with most of Eliot’ work. The model radiates power and tension from the crossed arms to his flexed shoulder muscles and broad thighs.

Positioning the camera slightly above another model’s hips, Eliot’s portrait is a study in the symmetry of a sturdy back, the hips and upper thighs.

“Interpretations of the Male Nude” continues at the Photowest Gallery, 744G Street, Suite 205, through June 30.