Beauty in its most natural form

Paul Freeman is no stranger to the world of photography. He’s won international awards for both his commercial and portrait work, and this year marks the release of his new book, Bondi Road.
His pictures appeared in the bestselling biography of Ian Roberts and he is commissioned regularly by various high-end photography magazines.
Freeman said that his books are all about portraying beauty.
“I am showing an aesthetically pleasing array, but definitely a variety that elicits a myriad of responses depending on the taste of the viewer,” he said.
“I am told that I aspire to provide an image of maleness that is organic and naturalistic in the beauty it portrays, even documentary in the feel of the moments captured, compared with the more static and staid male imagery.”
The inspiration for the new book comes from Freeman’s concept of looking for a way of portraying male beauty and sensuality in a way that reflects his aestheticism.
The production period for a book usually takes around four months, which includes editing, photoshopping and layout.
“I hope my style is evolving still. I hope my editing is reflecting a statement I want to make,” Freeman said.
“It’s not highly profitable, and it reflects about six to eight months of work all up.
“There are few magazines in any community that represent the male in this way, so I’d like to think people are buying something that is a unique artistic expression.
“Ultimately it will be people like you who will make that decision and play God in respect of encouraging that kind of support.
“I’ve come a long way from expecting an entire community of competitive, multi-opinionated, gay, lesbian, bi and transgender persons to ever uniformly support anything, let alone a book of male portraits.”
Bondi Road is available at good bookstores. Details: www.paulfreeman.com.au.