Masculinity Ain't Working Out Series: Free Weights

Masculinity Ain't Working Out was inspired by The Mask You Live In (2015), a documentary that dissects the concept of masculinity. It investigates activities that take place in the gym. It focuses on the allowing and denying of access to one's personal space within the gym set up. It focuses on the amount of work that goes into the construction of the socially accepted male physique. It seems to me that there is an obsession with getting bigger and bigger, therefore there is a lot of competitiveness taking place in the weight room of the gym. In this context, the construction of masculinity is a mechanical process since the subjects are using machines and weights to build their bodies. One then becomes what I would call "the machine-made man". The notion of the "real" man is therefore debunked. I believe that one needs not engage in activities such as weightlifting to be considered masculine.

This series of photographs explores activities that take place in the gym. I mainly focus on boxing and weightlifting. These photographs are extremely intimate .They follow the process of getting ready to engage in battle. The series explores the various preparation phases one goes though before the big fight. It begins with the working out phase, which can be seen in the two photographs titled Free Weights .In On Guard , I look at the stance that a boxer assumes when he is ready to defend himself. In the photograph Left Hook, I attempt to capture the fight. The fight I refer to is a mental one since there is no opponent in sight. In After The Fight ,  the subject is portrayed as a tired figure, emphasising the fact that fighting is exhausting.