![very old elderly gay men kissing very old elderly gay men kissing](https://cdn.theatlantic.com/thumbor/Vtka8Zxq4ozig6jZYx84Om8NKyY=/964x0:7631x5000/1200x900/media/img/2019/06/Atlantic_BOB_WEB_OPT2_Artboard_1_copy_2/original.jpg)
What does ethical portraiture mean to you? I wanted to make portraits that accessed those emotions so that we all might get a better sense of what will be possible in the future. In my opinion, as a result of their lust for power, accessing their emotional lives is difficult for many men, especially men of a certain age. It has become increasingly clear within a mainstream context that men are complicit in creating a world that specifically exists only for them to thrive in. More importantly, though, my work has an important function of representing the rich emotional lives of older men. Yet I found myself complicit in many of the actions I sought to negate. When I first started making pictures my goal was to make vulnerable, emotional portraits of people responsibly, ethically, and in earnest. I wanted to challenge people to think beyond this accusational dynamic we seem to be living in which paints one side as good and another as bad. Matthew Morrocco, Rod on the Couch, 2015.Ĭomplicit has become such a complicated word. The emotional openness of the photographs-which he began as one of my students at NYU Steinhardt in Berlin and which are now collected in a new volume by Matte Editions, also titled Complicit-evokes associations with Katy Grannan, Nan Goldin, and Wolfgang Tillmans, but they have a maturity, grace, sophistication, and innocence entirely their own. The photographer’s self-possession may trigger assumptions about power dynamics between a young man and his older admirers, but Morrocco isn’t Bosie to these men’s Wilde-his palpable empathy and connection with his partners undercuts any stereotypic thinking. The men Morrocco met for this work are survivors of the AIDS crisis, and their bodies, identities, and sexuality are extraordinary affirmations of life and monuments of resilience.
VERY OLD ELDERLY GAY MEN KISSING SERIES
For an insightful and moving series titled “ Complicit,” he photographs himself with men of earlier generations, often with one or both of them nude. Matthew Morrocco is living evidence that refutes Oscar Wilde’s adage that “youth is wasted on the young.” Morrocco knows the power of his youth and doesn’t take it for granted.