By Noah Spee
I’ve created this concept in co-operation with photographer Marjolein from “Iconique Vision”. She came to me with the sentence: “Men aren’t boys?”. She interpreted this sentence as a rhetorical question. “So men are also boys” were the words she used. According to her there are three words that makes you notice that men can be boys too. Open-mindedness, Carefree and youthful. She asked me what I thought of it so I put my own twist on it.
Because she wanted a “child like” feel for the shoot i came with the idea of “wearing your parent’s clothes”. It basically means a combination between mom and dad clothes and the extra added quality of extreme oversized fits. To add some playfulness I came up with the idea to add stickers to the arms and forehead of the boys. The MUAH responded to this idea by also adding drawings and gem stones.
While some men may exhibit “childlike” behavior sometimes, it’s important to recognize that this does not define their overall identity as mature adults. Men are capable and should be allowed to be nurturing, caring, and sensitive, as well as strong, confident, and independent.
It is also important to see that society’s expectations and gender norms can sometimes drag on the idea that men should be able to act like boys or be immature. However, this is an unfair and limiting expectation that can prevent men from fully expressing their emotions and living up to their potential as adults. So again society is to blame for normalizing the idea that men should be tough and perhaps act differently than they actually feel inside.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY @ICONIQUEVISION
MUAH BY @NIKOLAKERSTEN
MODELS ARE
BRADLEY @KNOWNMODELMANAGEMENT
NIELS @NEWGENERATIONMODELS