Art: Duane Michals

The Most Beautiful Part of a Man's Body
I think it must there, where the torso sits
on and into the hips,
Those twin delineating curves,
Feminine in grace, girdling the trunk,
Guiding the eyes downwards
to their intersection,
The point of pleasure.

One of my all time favorite works of photography, "The Most Beautiful Part of a Man's Body" by Duane Michals.



Michals is an American photographer whose work makes innovative use of photo-sequences, often incorporating text to examine emotion and philosophy. I love words! I know, that sounds strange. But I love to learn new words and play any kind of game involving letters. His incorporation of words into his art makes each piece feel like a vintage love letter and deeply personal.

This style of work has made Michals an innovator in artistic photography. It was the first time in photography that these ideas were happening and his words broke ground by giving information that the image itself could not convey.

As early as the age of 14 Michals was taking photographs and studying at art schools. However he describes his photographic skills as "completely self-taught". His original plan was to become a Graphic Designer but he never completed school. His interest is evident though in the way his photos are highly mobile and incorporate those beautiful words.

Michals worked as a Commercial Photographer for a while with publications like Esquire and Mademoiselle. In fact, he covered the filming for The Great Gatsby in 1974 for Vogue. Other highlights of his career include being hired by the government of Mexico to photograph the 1968 Summer Olympics. He has published and been involved with over twenty books.

Though Michals works has adressed gay themes, he has not been involved in gay civil rights.

"I feel the political aspirations are impotent. They can never be seen. If they are, it will only be by a limited audience. If one is to act politically, one simply puts down the camera and goes out and does something. I think of someone like Hartfeld who ridiculed the Nazis. Who very creatively took great stands. He could have been killed at any moment, he was Jewish, and my God what the guy did. It was extraordinary. You don’t see that now." - as told to BOMB Magazine in 1987