Tim Keane Photography

Masculinity and the Hunger to be Known No. 36

"I want to stop hiding."

Is hiding a universal response to the boundaries masculine culture draws around a man? And if he stops — what does it cost him? Who decides the price?

Masculinity and the Hunger to be Known No. 35
"I try not to care, but I do."
Told to be unshakeable, he learned to look it.

But the arms that brace also protect what's still unsure underneath.

Masculinity and the Hunger to be Known | No.Masculinity and the Hunger to be Known | No. 34
"I promised myself they would never call me a fa**ot again."
He built himself around that promise.

Learned what armor looked like,

wore it well.

Still wearing it now.

Masculinity and the Hunger to be Known | No. 32
"I gain strength from loss while I recognize my own imperfections with time."
He doesn't hide from what broke him.

He carries it differently now —

weight become posture,

wound become witness.

#31 | Masculinity and the Hunger to be Known
"A very tired lady."

Three words that don't match the face.
That's exactly the point.
He's carrying something that doesn't have a simpler name yet.

#27 | Masculinity and the Hunger to be Known #27 | Masculinity and the Hunger to be Known

"This is my masculinity. Like it or not."

No apology. No explanation. Just a tear and a man looking straight down the lens, fully occupying his own skin. After longing and struggle and searching — this one lands like a period at the end of a sentence.