Spencer Reid Nichols

The work presented focuses on how concepts of masculinity are constructed, deconstructed, and eventually reconstructed. My work is rooted in queer perspective, but doesn't place emphasis on the sexual nature of humans; rather, the work focuses on the male body as a power-bearing object, devoid of sexual connotation until society supplies it. As an object, the phallus is a symbol of power, yet society has a "fear" of interacting with it (publicly). Why do we give so much power to something that we are afraid of?

I’m searching for a lot of things. Eye contact, connection, interaction, myself. All of these point me to intimacy- how do I capture that in a photograph? I can capture a photograph of something intimate, or take a picture intimately, or even a picture about intimacy, but never a picture of intimacy as a being. What does that look like? Eye contact is my synonym for intimacy, which is really what I have been searching for this whole time. I’ve always looked for intimacy in other people, but this work is about finding intimacy in myself, by stealing these glances and keeping them as a trophy of a moment of this so-called “intimacy”.