25 years old, straight. He’s a motorcycle mechanic, passionate about Harleys. When I told him that I own a Harley he seemed to relax a bit. Nevertheless, throughout the shoot he was on his guard.
When a man has put a good deal of attention into covering himself with tattoos, I find myself almost methodically cataloging them. This was one of the three of which Grant was most proud.
This was the second tattoo of which he was particularly proud. The third, a lighthouse on his side, he asked me not to photograph in close-up. It was a tribute to his father who had died when Grant was 13. When his father died Grant ran away from home and never returned.
As I’ve mentioned before, moving between a straight man’s legs like this can be a challenge. I was extremely aware of the “struggle” tattoo and the fact that
relinquishing his power and privacy in this way was something Grant was unused to doing. In my most practiced serious tone I said “This is important. You have to let me do this.” In a real sense, this is what my life has been about, this negotiation with men to enable me to study them as closely as they will allow.
His profile gives a stronger sense of his personality. The text of the tattoo on his chest reads “A firestorm…to purify.” His seriousness about all things was absolute. While we were setting up for the last shots he told us stories about his life. Like so many young men I’ve photographed he’s spent a good deal of time “riding the rails” across country. He always traveled alone; his stories were eloquent, full of descriptions of lonely landscapes you can only see from a freight train.
He says he’s a motorcycle mechanic, and he was one of the most intelligent and complex men I’ve photographed. His array of tattoos seemed to me to be attempts to not only proclaim himself to the world but also to draw a solid line between himself and the world. He told me that he’s never had a longterm relationship with a woman: he loves being alone too much. He taught me a word I’d never heard before: “waldeinsamkeit”. “It’s the pleasure of being alone in the woods. I spend most of my time alone in the woods.”
I didn’t photograph the tattoo on the back of his legs. In large block letters, on his left leg it reads “Fear less.” One his right leg it reads “Hate more.”
– PAUL MORRIS
Edit: My legs say “More Hate Than Fear”
Take care Paul!
XXXO
I think people do not understand the idea of “straight edge” anymore.