I create black and white photographs of male nudes with a strong queer sensibility. I create black and white male nudes for queer men who need to have a mirror held up to see themselves as part of the community. This work mirrors my own struggles with identity and queer expression. They are manifestations of desire and longing, eroticism commingled with melancholy and humor. I use film and wet darkroom techniques to produce my images because the slowing down required and the limitations imposed by only so many frames per roll pushes me to invest in every click of the shutter. My work matters because it subverts canonical tropes of gay male figurative photography to allow people othered within the queer community to see themselves represented as belonging within that canon.