Winner of the 2021 HCB Award, Carolyn Drake presents a new series of photographs exploring her relationship to myths of masculinity in American culture. Mixing symbols of virility, self‑portraits, and photographs of men “laid bare,” MEN UNTITLED functions as both introspection and documentary.

In contrast to her previous work, she broadens the scope by separating the work from any specific geography. Erasing nearly all signs of place, Drake invites the viewer to look directly at the male bodies in front of the camera. Getting closer to her subjects through collaborative portraiture, she ends up calling both the viewer’s expectations and her own perceptions into question.

This publication by TBW Books coincides with an exhibition at the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson in Paris curated by Clement Cheroux.