Michael Apolo Gomez, Men I Know

July 16 – 30, 2017
Reception: Friday, July 21, 6-8pm

Graft Gallery
1415 Fourth Street SW, Albuquerque
graftgallery.com

Men I Know is an environmental portraiture series in which the photographer, Michael Apolo Gomez explores his relationship with men in his life, friends, lovers and acquaintances. He focuses on the male gaze, the male figure, masculinity as well as the domestic space they inhabit. By capturing them in these moments he hopes to further explore the disconnection that he has in relation to his understanding of what it means to be a man from his Queer perspective.

“I grew up in a small dairy community throughout my adolescence I can remember having a hard time developing friendships with other boys. I didn’t fit in with boy culture and later on had a hard time adapting to machismo culture. The idea of pride in masculinity was something I’d never experienced, instead I developed an awareness of my own queerness early on. There was always a disassociation with other members of the same-sex, my body and my own masculinity. I am placing men in their homes, places of intimacy and importance. I am photographing the way they look into the camera, the position of their bodies, the way they arrange their spaces.”

Image: Michael Apolo Gomez, from the series “Men I Know,” 2017