About the Watermen Photo Project

Photographing the male nude manifested a healing process for Mitch Longley. He endured a spinal cord injury almost twenty years ago at age seventeen.

The male subjects in the show, never before photographed in this way, are all close friends of Mitch's from his small New England hometown, Naramake/Rowayton, CT. Besides expressing a deeply personal appreciation for proportioned, athletic form, Mitch's photographs reflect the trusting friendships he shares with his close friends. Their profound dignity and self-respect allowed him to create images through which he, once again, can experience the unencumbered body - generous gift no words can describe.

The initial prints led Mitch to expand his project by creating composite images of nudes set against ancient Greek sculpture and Roman architecture that he photographed in Italy during the summer of 2000. These digital ink-jet composites were then printed by Photo Impact's Digital Imaging experts on Egyptian papyrus and Epson Concord Rag paper. The idea here was to merge contemporary nudes with ancient scenery in order to offer viewers a modern. yet classical representation of the male form

"The complete body of work," states Mitch, "proves an accurate depiction of my emotional and psycological sense of the body I once enjoyed, and with continued patience yearn to reclaim." Although never the initial intention when he first set out on this photographic endeaver, it has become an artistic priority process for him.

Return to Watermen from Naramake