My Armor project was four years in the making. It explores issues of putting body before self for public consumption. The impetus for the project was a visit the Accademia Gallery in Florence, Italy during the summer of 2010. Accademia houses Michelangelo's David and in the summer of 2010 it also housed a Robert Mapplethorpe exhibit.

The juxtaposition of Michelangelo sculpture and Robert Mapplethorpe photography was very powerful. I had already been grappling with my own issues of aging within the Gay community through a number of photography projects, however the visit to Accademia that day provided me with much food for thought. 

Being part of a community that seemingly values body above other personal attributes has always been conflicting for me. With the advent of social media this seemed more prevalent than ever. I started to think of all the images of shirtless men that crowded my Facebook newsfeed. It seemed to me those men were wearing their hyper-idealized bodies as social armor, protecting them from the dangers of revealing their true selves.

The resulting images portray men, at first anonymously, strong and proud, then through different states of reveal, becoming more vulnerable. All the while they are bound by the social mores of their community.