David Lindesay, The Contemporary Adonis (People (2019))

Sensual and powerful, this portrait explores a series of intimate moments between two bodies. Captured on one roll of medium format film and displayed, unedited, in shoot order, the work offers the viewer a chance to explore the statuesque bodies of the two individuals as they twist, intertwine and grapple with one another. The active voyeurism brought about by this work is drawn from the idealised nude male form first cemented in Ancient Greece and Rome. By raising the figures on a plinth, they are immediately elevated to a sculptural form, separating them from the viewer and pushing them further towards an idealised body. This ideal is then subtly subverted by the inclusion of the black space in the bottom left corner; it is designed to disrupt and cause the viewer to pause. It is also a direct byproduct of the process by which the work was made as the roll of film only has 15 shots and the grid 16 spaces.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.