Photo Series: Making Men and Man-KindDamien Schumann

Masculinity is socially constructed. It is learned and passed down from one gen-

eration to the next. Masculinity in South Africa is troubled with historic and eco-

nomic challenges, as well as changing gender norms having greatly affected the

way we perceive men in our society, and also how masculinity is achieved. The

inability to achieve a sense of manliness through socially acceptable means leads

to hyper masculine behaviour that includes violence, dangerous acts, and acts of

domination (like rape or domestic abuse), played out in order to counter the stress

caused by the inability to feel purposeful within society.

The response to hyper masculine behavior until recently has been to empower

women, in a sense putting up arms against a threat. Few have considered how to

resolve this threat from its root. What are the concerns of men, and how can these

be resolved to better society?

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Making Men

Making Men looks at the relationship between fathers and sons and inquires what

kind of influence this masculine role model has had on a boy’s life, and how they

choose to embrace manhood. Based on what they experience in their intimate

environment, what do boy’s consider to be manly? Through observation of physi-

cal similarities including mannerisms, postures, dress code and genetic snaps, a

greater discourse is opened on how much psychological behaviour can be adopt-

ed from a role model as well. The influence of the (physically or emotionally) ab-

sent father is also analyzed.

Having lost his father at a young age, the artist commences this project within

the demographic he grew up in, witnessing how his peers grew up and turned out

having had a male influence. His search to conclude what a good masculine role

model is traverses a gendered line and the relationship between men and boys.

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Man-Kind

For Man-Kind the artist was curious on how men strive to attain and sustain their

sense of masculinity. In a constant battle for dominance how does an alpha-male

come to power and maintain his position? To find out Schumann undertook to

seek alpha-males from a diverse cross section of backgrounds and observe be-

havioral trends, both of the alpha-male and his counterparts. Attention was placed

on noting the performance men take on to exert their masculinity, and also the

vulnerability of what lies beneath this mask. It aims to question how certain men

are of their actions that feed the social construct of masculinity in which they

find themselves; the scope of opportunity their environment provides for them

to achieve this sense of masculinity; and what the repercussions of success and

failure of these actions mean for the rest of society.

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