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My Photo history
Dianora Niccolini recounts of her career as Fine Art Male Nude Photographer...
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My life as a photographer began in the early sixties. I
landed my first job as a medical phtographer almost at the same time that I met
the world renowned photographer, Arthur Fellig. Weege, as he was called, was
a lecherous but kindly old man constantly chasing young girls. I became the
focus of his desire when I showed interest in his work. While I wanted to learn
his photographic technique, he seemed only interested in trying to seduce
me. Thus, A cat and mouse game ensued. This continued for several years until he
realized that he was not going to succeed. During this time, however, I did
learn a great deal from Weege. We photographed the world trade fair in Queens
together and he even allowed me to develop his film.. even after I had ruined a
roll by developing it in Dektol (a paper developer). That was many, many
years ago!
I am now a fine art photographer and considered by many
to be the female pioneer of the male nude in photography, a trend setter.
Photographing the male nude now is commonplace, but over a quarter of a century
ago it was a different matter. It was not considered an art form but rather was
relagated to homoerotic pornography.
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"Carl's Back" © Dianora Niccolini 1975
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Homosexual men had always photographed
their lovers ( and other men willing to pose for them) since the onset of
photography. Not too many women dared . If they did, few showed their work publicly.
However, gay magazines were full of photographic images of sexy men. Thus,
the male nude became stigmatized!
Fine art galleries refused to exhibit male nude photographs until I had my male nude exhibit in 1975 at The Third Eye
Gallery in NYC. Luckily it was reviewed in the Sunday New York Times by Gene
Thornton. It was a favorable review! The male nude in photography was finally
legitimized and accepted by the art community. The fact that I was a woman helped to
de-stigmatize it . Robert Mapplethorpe surfaced several years later and his
association with Sam Wagstaff, a very well respected collector of photography,
really helped him a lot. He arranged a simultaneous exhibition of
Mapplethorpe's photographs at the 3 most prestigious places in the NYC Art scene - The
Robert Samuel gallery, the Miller gallery and the International Center of
Photography. This propelled Mapplethorpe to a super star status. Unfortunately for
me, his photographs looked very similar to mine. Coincidence? I don't think so!
When I met Mapplethorpe in 1978, he knew who I was.
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"Resting" © Dianora Niccolini 1975
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I had been exhibiting my male nudes and had received many
favorable reviews in the 3 years that preceeded his first male nude photographic
exhibit in NYC. I continued to have photographic exhibits on an annual basis
until after the publication of my second book in 1983 (MEN IN FOCUS) . By then, I
was completely burned out. The death of my mother in 1981, the publication of
my 2 books (WOMEN OF VISION in 1982, AND MEN IN FOCUS in 1983), establishing
the Professional Women Photographers (PWP) as a viable and professional
organization, and a major auction to generate money for PWP, completely wiped me
out. By 1984, I decided to step down from my (unpaid) position as president of
the Professional Women Photographers and decided to concentrate on making a
living.
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By 1984, my career as a medical photographer had come to an end . It was
then that I decided to go into a completely different direction. I opened up a portrait studio on 32nd. St. in NYC. My bread and
butter clientel consisted primarily of “would be” actors and models. Because
my clients were very young and were struggling to pay their bills with part
time jobs etc., I had to rely on volume in order to keep my prices low. I did
very well until the stock market crash of 1987. This crash affected everyone
including my clients who lost their jobs as waiters and part time employees! My
business dried up almost overnight. Needless to say, I spent the last half of
the 80's and most of the 90's trying to keep my head above water”. Between
1984-1997, I had very little time and money to continue to exhibit my fine art
photography. Consequently, the momentum that I had created for myself in the
art world came to a near stand still.
My male nude photographs not only had influenced Mapplethorpe
but probably paved the way for the scantly clad male models in commercial
advertising and the Calvin Klein avante-guard brief ads of the 80's. Commercial
photographers like Bruce Weber, Herb Ritts, Nan Goldin, Greg Gorman and scores
of other lesser known photographers entered the art scene in mass and began
not only exhibiting, but publishing books of their male nudes.
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"Leaping out the Water" © Dianora Niccolini 1982
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Major anthologies, however continued to include my photographs
throughout the 80's and 90's, and greeting cards as well as posters of my
photographs of men were published and sold around the world. I am convinced that
even though I did not exhibit my photographs on a regular basis for almost a
decade, the publication of MEN IN FOCUS and the reproduction of my photographs
in books as well as the cards and posters, continued ( and continues ) to
directly or indirectly influence photographers who photograph the male nude.
Today everybody and anybody with a camera is photographing naked men. Cameras are
so easy to use now that It is common place for every Tom Dick and Harry to
consider himself (or herself) a photographer.
It wasn't until I met David Leddick in the mid
ninety's, that my reputation as the female pioneer in photography of the male
nude was re-established. David had seen my photographs in a few anthologies,
and being a collector, wanted to purchase a few. He tracked me down, and
bought a couple of photographs. That was my introduction to David Leddick. He
subsequently decided to put together books of photographs of the male nude..and
of course wanted to include me. THE MALE NUDE by David Leddick, and published
by Taschen in 1998, was one of the most comprehensive historical surveys on the
male nude ever published.
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15 of my photographs were included, as well as on
the cover of the book. He also included my photographs in the male nude books
that followed until he and I collaborated on BIG FUN WITH BILLY. Having seen
some photographs of the Billy doll that I had taken on Cape Cod, David went to
the publisher and convinced him that a book of my photographs of the doll
should be published. The publisher agreed as long as David wrote the humorous text
which accompanies the photos.
I have much for which to thank David. He has been my knight
in shining armor! He included my photos in all of his books. He championed my
cause giving me credit where credit was due, and helping me wherever and
whenever he could. He never asked for anything in return! David is one of the most
generous and kind people I have ever met.
It is important for me to clarify why I have specialized on
the male nude for over a quarter of a century. While it is true that I
photograph and have photographed a myriad of different subjects, I somehow always
return to photographing naked men. Why? There are 3 different reasons that come
to mind.
The first is psychological. Because my father and I never
bonded , my relationship with men has been dysfunctional, to say the very least.
My father was a chauvanist of the first order!
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Growing up, I remember
constantly hearing my father tell my mother that she should obey him because he was
the master of the house. Of course my mother, being an American, refused to do
so and constant battles for power ensued. This was such a turn off for me that
I decided never to marry and never to have children. I loved my freedom too
much to risk losing it in marriage.. and I never had a desire to raise a
family. Consequently, I only dated men with whom there was little or no emotional
attachment.
In photographing gorgeous naked men, I can safely look at young (21+) handsome naked hunks without getting involved... It is much more acceptable to be a voyeur with a camera than one without it!
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"Wayne the Sloth" © Dianora Niccolini 1975
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The men who have posed
for me tend to be exhibitionists of sorts.. not the pathological kind, of
course. So we have mutually benefitted each other. Therefore they were comfortable
posing for me and I was comfortable photographing them. Having been a medical
photographer, I was accustomed to photographing naked bodies - both male and
female. I never felt embarrassed. Because it was my job as a medical photographer,
it became second nature to me.
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"Kraige Back Bending" © Dianora Niccolini 1999
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My second reason for photographing naked men is artistic. Growing
up in Florence (Italy), gave me a very different perspective on nudes than
most Americans. The streets of Florence are filled with statues of both naked
men, women..and even children (as cherubins etc.). The museums house most of the
great art of the renaissance and Michaelangelo's work was my favorite! I
loved his statues of men with their powerfully muscular bodies. It is no wonder,
then, that I chose and still choose to photograph muscular men in their prime.
I love to make them look like statues.
My third reason is political. I couldn't believe that exhibiting
photographs of the male nude was a taboo. This was America, after all, the
land of the free!! The sexual revolution had already happened. So what was the
problem???? It was HOMOPHOBIA!!! I became determined to bring about change.
After some photographs of the male nude were removed from a group exhibit at the
14th.street Y in NYC ( early 70's), I decided to take this issue on. I was a
member of a cooperative gallery called THE THIRD EYE. It was there that I had
my first exhibit of the male nude.. and it was that exhibit that was favorably
reviewed by Gene Thornton in the Sunday (Dec.7th.,1975) New York Times. This
review, obviously not only influenced Mapplethorpe, but opened the floodgates
for all who have subsequently followed.
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The Third Eye Gallery was a wonderful place to exhibit my
work. It was a member run gallery with less than 10 of us. We were all young
anti- establishment rebels, thus we exhibited work that no one else dared.
Consequently it was a great opportunity for me. My first exhibit (EYE A WOMAN NAKED
AM I) was in 1974. This is when I exhibited my female nudes. It was my
second exhibit, the following year, in which I presented THE MALE NUDE. Because
this subject matter was such a taboo, I decided to challenge the establishment.
In so doing, I broke many photographic rules. For example, In order to make my
models look timeless and impersonal, I often cropped off their heads. At the
time, this was not considered an acceptable way to photograph people. I
received much criticism for this. I also used a lot of close-ups..including one's of
the penis which I photographed in idyllic settings ie., next to tree trunks,
in lake water etc. By using the above techniques and often placing my models
in non threatening environments like nature, I seduced the viewer to look at
the naked man.
Following is the press release (1975) which was sent to every newspaper and
magazine on the market.
“The Male Nude is not only a photographic presentation, but most of all, a
plea for awareness. In the 20th. century, the threshold of the Aquarian age,
where everyone is so concerned about becoming more aware , more sensitive to
the reality of oneself and others, it is appaling to find that we still hold
on to archaic untruths and blatant double standards..such as the myth that the
naked body is evil, dirty and therefore must be hidden, especially the male
body. It is interesting to note, however, that this myth has been compromised
in the art of painting. Long before the renaissance, painters and sculptors
had been painting and sculpting the naked female and male body unabashedly.
Even cathedrals are blessed with such examples. In photography, however, the
double standard not only remains, but is constantly reinforced by the
proliferation of smut literature generously illustrated with pornographic photos of nudes
that degrade the human body to a dehumanized level. This exploitive
attitude has served one purpose only , and that is to reinforce the attitude
that there is something inherently dangerous and/or evil with the naked
body..especially the male's. That is why today when so many people are concerned
with consciousness expansion and psychological breakthroughs, there is a
dilema. We still remain blind to the wonder and beauty of the human body in its
naked natural form.
In my photographic studies of the male nude, I try to
illustrate the subtle connections between the naked body and nature, the natural person
and our universe. With pride and dignity, I invite one and all to look upon
the body with total acceptance and reverence..for in its natural splendor it
is the greatest work of art.”
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"Von's Embrace" © Dianora Niccolini 1998
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A year after the male nude, I exhibited my experimental multi media
work (photo and painting combos) which were hand made and NOT computer
generated. The first I called The Monster Series. The second exhibit, was called
The Mona Lisa Recycled Series. I then returned to exhibiting my men again solo
and in group shows. The Male Nude In Photography exhibit at the Marcuse Pfeifer
gallery ( a major gallery) in 1978 included 5 of my male nude photos. This
exhibit was very controversial and created quite a furor in the art world.
Odd..since my one woman exhibit in 1975 had received such positive acclaim. In
spite of this, I continued to exhibit my male nudes and the reviews continued to
be favorable. After the publication of my book, Men In focus (In the early
80's), I had several exhibits (in NYC, and Provincetown, Ma.) .
In the summer of 1984 or 1985 (I can't remember the exact year)
I introduced the mermale (half male and half fish) in the Coney Island
parade. A mermaid had always been featured in their parade.. but not the male
counter part - until I introduced the mermale. Since then the organizers of the
parade have included the mermale ( which they now call the merman) in their
annual parade.
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I continued to show my male nudes through various other venues
throughout most of the 80's. In 1986 I had a slide show and exhibit at a popular
NYC nightclub called the Limelight. In the late 80's, I was a guest on the
Joe Franklin TV show.
Although I stopped having one-woman exhibits until 1997, my
photographs continued to be included in group exhibitions throughout most of the
80's, and 90's. My images of the male nude also continued and still continue
today to be published in major anthologies.
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Dianora Niccolini © 2003
New York, USA
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| Images from the TRADITIONAL FILM Gallery. | |
| Images from the PANORAMA Gallery. | |
| Images from the LIMITED EDITION Gallery. | 
"The Swimmer"
© Dianora Niccolini
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"The Swimmer #2"
© Dianora Niccolini
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"Leaping out of Water"
© Dianora Niccolini
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"Robt in Ecstacy"
© Dianora Niccolini
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"Carl's Back"
© Dianora Niccolini
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"Kraige Back Bending"
© Dianora Niccolini
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"Von's Embrace"
© Dianora Niccolini
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"Robt Holding Down"
© Dianora Niccolini
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"Tight Torso"
© Dianora Niccolini
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"Resting"
© Dianora Niccolini
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"Stockton"
© Dianora Niccolini
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"Wayne the Sloth"
© Dianora Niccolini
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"Back into the Woods"
© Dianora Niccolini
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"Kenny Dripping"
© Dianora Niccolini
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"Diving Under"
© Dianora Niccolini
| | Images from the DIGITAL Gallery. | |
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| Images from the DIGITAL ART Gallery. | |
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