Beautiful

Clair-obscur

THE ART OF CHIAROSCURO WAS DEVELOPED FIRST IN THE RENAISSANCE. BASICALLY IT WAS A TECHNIQUE WITH WHICH THE ARTIST WORKED FROM A PAPER’S BASE TONE TOWARD LIGHT BY USING WHITE PAINT, OR TOWARD DARK USING INK. PHOTOGRAPHY IS NOT MUCH DIFFERENT. THE ORIGINAL PROCESS OF DEVELOPING USES CHEMICALS TO TRANSFORM AN IMAGE OF LIGHT INTO SHADES OF DARKNESS. APPLIED ON WHITE PAPER IT ARE THOSE SHADOWY FORMS THAT COMPOSE THE IMAGE.

Photography is all about light and shadow. Contrasts that create an image simply by opposing positives and negatives. During the Renaissance this technique was applied in drawing and paintings. Yes, even woodcuts and reliefs used the technique of “shading”. The official name originates from Italy, the country where the Renaissance bloomed to it’s peak. Chiaroscuro means nothing more than light-dark. An art form more known under the French name clair-obscur.

Sometimes when you move around in crowded places you might stumble upon something that can only be described as a hidden treasure. Hidden in the shadows of its busy surroundings, but waiting and ready to be revealed and takes its place in the light. When following a trail on Facebook we came upon Mateo, a 33 years old French photographer and plastic artist. Mateo has been interested in photography for as long as he can remember and started his professional career in the art about 4 years ago. So how come we didn’t hear about him before? For sure it is not due to the quality of his work, which is outstanding.  No, its simply because it is a crowded world out there and sometimes it takes a little chiselling to make true beauty appear out of the shadows. Clair-obscur.

Clair-obscur is the technique where an artists uses the strongest contrast between dark and light, in order to make his subject really stand out. It is what Mateo did with his models in his Clair-obsur series. Through the use of strong focussed light he dissolves shadow parts and let the natural beauty of his subject emerge. The effect is dramatic and sensual. As mentioned before, Mateo describes himself as a plastic artist. This means he creates set ups, with or without people in them, with the purpose to take pictures of them. Everything is calculated, within the tiniest details. His work can be divided in 3 main categories: Art photography, which shows a reflexion of the meaning of the image or special concept. “On the spot” which excludes his usual practise of creating a set up and is more spontaneous, even though Mateo’s subjects for this art form are more geometric, static and architectural elements. And male photography, in which Mateo explores the beauty of the male face and body. It is mostly in this last group that he uses either bright colored backgrounds or a chiaroscuro effect by playing with light and shadow.

Mateo, who is also the official photographer for the Mister Gay France Committee, lives and works in France’s capital city Paris, where he has the fortunate advantage of having his own photo studio. His wonderful work can be seen on both his Facebook page and his official website. And of course here, on BeautifulMag where we without doubt will feature more of Mateo’s work in the future. Much more. –BM-

MATEO | BEAUTIFULMAG
MATEO PHOTOGRAPHY | BEAUTIFULMAG

Note from the editor: Downtime this week

Last Thursday our hosting server company has been hit with a distributed denial of service (DDoS). They attack has been so severe that all conntected websites have been compromised. This is teh reason why BeautifulMag was ofline and appeared and an unknown domain name. we apologize for the inconvenience this might have caused you. Thanks to the hard work of the technical team over the past days, we are now back online. Thank you for your patience.

Please enjoy the latest two articles - Hidden Beauty with photograhy by James Lewis and The Complexity of Simplicity by Gert Kist - by simply scrolling down or clicking on these links. -BM-

Hidden Beauty

LIVING IN PARIS I’M OFTEN TOLD HOW LUCKY I AM TO LIVE IN ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CITIES IN THE WORLD. IT’S FUNNY, REALLY, AS I DON’T SEE IT THAT WAY. NOT ANYMORE. AFTER A CERTAIN TIME YOU TEND TO LOOSE SIGHT OF THE BEAUTY YOUR CITY HAS TO OFFER AND ALL YOU SEE IS THE OTHER SIDE. THE SIDE THAT IS DIRTY, NEGLECTED, BROKEN. THE PARTS OF THE CITY TOURISTS DON’T SEE. THE DIRT IN THE STREETS, THE DARK ALLEYS HIDDEN IN THE SHADOWS OF MAJESTIC BUILDINGS.

Every big city in the world has that double side. The part that is dazzling, a enchanted presentation of modern architecture or a silent reminder of a rich and glorious past. And the other side. The side where city life is being lived by the people who inhabit it. Less glamorous. Darker and dirtier. Atlanta, Georgia is no exception.

Originally founded as a railway milepost that was known under the name Terminus, Atlanta was first recognized as a town in 1842. By that time it counted 6 buildings and 30 residents. Now, 172 years later, Atlanta is the most populous city and capital of the state Georgia. The name of city has a magic ring to it, not in the least to a less than magic past. With Georgia being one of the Slave States, the city of Atlanta played a major role in the Civil War between 1861 and 1865. The war made Atlanta a hub for distribution of military supplies. It brought many inhabitants and the city grew explosively. It also resulted in total destruction when General Sherman ordered the city to be burned to the ground on November 11, 1864. But that didn’t stop the people from rebuilding their beloved city after the war and gradually Atlanta developed itself in the most important and powerful city in the state of Georgia.

Atlanta never was a typical southern city, and during the Civil War fire much of the original architecture was burned. Still one can find remnants of the cities turbulent past. Today Atlanta has its own characteristic skyline, like so many great American cities, but between those concrete, iron and glass towers one can still find some old brick buildings with colonial facings. And often behind those historical buildings small and dark alleys are hidden, sheltered by the modern architecture from the southern sun. Many would ignore those alleys, often used as dumpsters. But not James C. Lewis.

James C. Lewis is the renowned photographer of Noire3000 | N3K Photo Studios LLC in Atlanta. Known for his fashion photography, James enjoyed international recognition with his Yoruba African Orishas series and The Orisha Experience exhibition which was held at the CRE8 Gallery in London late last year. James has a wonderful ability to capture true beauty with his camera, and obviously he knows how to recognize beauty where others might not even see it. As his latest series with newcomer Justin Howard proofs.

Justin Howard is an athlete and former Military. For James C. Lewis, Justin is the embodiment of masculinity with striking features and a strong presence. And we couldn’t agree more. For his first shoot with Justin, James choose a back alley somewhere in Atlanta. Anonymous. Forgotten. Dirty with just some think plastic construction sheets left behind. The kind of place no one would ever think of being interesting. Except James. With his talent and skills, and the presence of Justin Howard, James simply transformed this alley in a most glamorous location. A place where magic happens, as it often happens in places where you least expect it. I don’t know about you, but I think this alley should forever be included on the historical list of places to be seen in Atlanta. An alley forgotten by the people, but restored to glory and brought back into the light by James C. Lewis. –BM-

JAMES C LEWIS | BEAUTIFULMAG

The Complexity of Simplicity

SMALL AS IT IS, THE NETHERLANDS IS A VERY COMPLICATED TERRITORY. FIRST OF ALL, IT IS KNOWN UNDER DIFFERENT NAMES BOTH IN ENGLISH AND OTHER LANGUAGES. SOME OF THESE NAMES, SUCH AS HOLLAND REFER IN FACT TO DIFFERENT GEOGRAPHICAL AND POLITICAL AREAS OF THE COUNTRY. IN WHICH CASE THE NAME HOLLAND FOR THE NETHERLANDS IS WRONG. THE PEOPLE LIVING IN THE NETHERLANDS AND THEIR LANGUAGE ARE CALLED DUTCH, WHICH MANY CONFUSE WITH DEUTCH, THE GERMAN WORD FOR THE GERMAN LANGUAGE. THE ONLY ONES WHO GOT IT CORRECT ARE THE PEOPLE FROM THE NETHERLANDS THEMSELVES. IN THEIR LANGUAGE THE COUNTRY IS CALLED “NEDERLAND” (SINGULAR INSTEAD OF PLURAL), THE LANGUAGE “NEDERLANDS” AND THE PEOPLE “NEDERLANDERS.” AS STRAIGHTFORWARD AND PRAGMATIC AS THE PEOPLE THEMSELVES ARE.

Netherland, The Netherlands, Holland… the confusion is complete. The reason for this confusion goes back many centuries and is probably a story for another time. But there is one thing very true about characteristics of this small country in the northern part of Europe. It is divided in two parts. This division is geographically explainable as the country is cut in two by 3 of its largest rivers: the Rhine, the Maas and the Waal. The Netherlands know many rivers but those three run almost horizontally entering the country in the east and leaving it at the North Sea in the west. Though long ago conquered – the Dutch are masters when it comes to waterworks after all – those rivers must have given quiet some headache in centuries past. More than that, they created a real cultural split that in some aspects can still be seen today. Religion was one of them. In the past the northern part of the country was Protestant, and the southern part Catholic. Obviously in modern times this difference is no longer existent. But one thing that is still very present is a difference in speech. In the north one speaks with a hard G, making a sound like stone crushing glass that comes from deep in the throat. The south however speaks with a soft G, which originates more from the back of the mouth and sounds like a tyre going flat.

The Netherlands is a much-discussed country at BeautifulMag. The reason for that lies in the fact that one of our loyal contributors originates from here. We are talking of course about Gert Kist, creative father of Malemodel.nl. Where in the beginning Gert focussed almost solemnly on photographing Dutch models in all their variety, he also works with many young men from surrounding countries. But somehow we are always happy when Gert presents us a true Dutchman again. As it is the case with Yannick. In contrary to his origin, his name is all but Dutch. The name Yannick derives from France, or, to be more precise, from the region named Brittany. Right, Brittany France that is, which is pronounced as Bretagne in Dutch and not to be confused with Groot Bretagne, which is the Dutch name from the United Kingdom.

So let’s go back to our topic of today: Yannick. Usually we don’t get that much information about Gert Kist’s men. And that is OK. They always introduce themselves in a most visual way and the lack of information gives them a certain anonymity that makes them more mysterious and desirable. However, we do know a few things about Yannick. Yannick is 19 years old and a student. However, he decided to retire from his study for one year and dedicate this to getting other experiences while he is still young. Such as modelling. And why not. Yannick obviously is in the possession of a very nice body that some might describe as twink and others as dry muscled. And if he doesn’t model he works in a hotel where he doubtless many guests welcomes with that sunny and sexy smile of him. Yannick is also a real Dutch blond model, and these days that deserves a special mentioning as real blonds seem to be a dying species. Furthermore, Yannick comes from the south of The Netherlands and thus he is lucky to be speaking with that soft hissinglike sound. Something that completes his look, we think.

With Yannick, Gert Kist has found a new, true Dutch addition to his online portfolio. Blond, handsome, sexy and sparkling. Like a ray of sunlight that breaks through the dutch cloudy skies and hits the turbulent waters of the Maas river. You can’t find them any better. And with Yannick we had once again the opportunity to marvel at the complexity of a country that is known for its simplicity. You’re still with us? –BM-

MALEMODEL.NL | BEAUTIFULMAG

BeautifulMag #163 Week 17-18 | Choosing Happiness

EDITOR’S LETTER

We have these friends who have been together for many years. Not everyone understands them. They are quite different from each other. One is a bit more outgoing by nature, the other much more introvert. But their life is nice. Quiet. Boring some might say. But they feel good with it. Until a few weeks ago one of them met someone else. A casual meeting that developed into friendship and then something more. Now our friend lives a double life. The quiet life with his partner, and the adventurous life with his lover. And it kills him.

This situation is more common then one might think. It is even not restricted to gay couples only of course. But seeing this happening to close friends made me start to think about the concept of relationships and why we choose to spend our lives with someone. What is it that makes us decide to settle down and spend the rest of your time with that one person. Love you say. Sure there is that. But apparently it’s not exclusive. When we asked our friend what he was going to do he told us that he really doesn’t know. He never meant to develop such strong feeling for his lover, and he really doesn’t want to hurt his partner. He loves his boyfriend. And he is in love with his lover. People say loving someone and being in love with someone is not the same thing. Loving often comes later.  It’s more intense than being in love. But we often mistake one for the other. Just like we often mistake loving for feeling comfortable. Sometimes we are with someone for such a long time, we cannot imagine anything else. Sure love is involved, but it is also a feeling of comfort. Sometimes only discovered when another possibility of love announces itself. There was a time that norms and values dictated that when you marry, you marry for life. But our norms and values have shifted over time and things that were black and white are now often been seen in many shades of grey. And maybe that also goes for relationships. We have come to accept separations and divorces like things that are very normal now. What we have not yet accepted is that you can love more than one person at the same time. And maybe it is time. Because it’s not always a question of choosing which person to love, it is more a question of choosing happiness. For you and for them. –BM-

Cover photography by Paul Smollen.

BEAUTIFULMAG | Everything That Is