A new coffee table picture book, set to be released just before Christmas, is paying homage to real men – beer bellies and all!
There won’t be a single buffed, ‘six-packed’ Adonis among the glossy pages of Dudeoir.
The project is by Coolum photographer Matthew Vale, a busy father of six with very little spare time to work on his abs.
“It’s a celebration of men’s bodies,” Mr Vale explained of the positive project.
“It’s basically a photo book of men poking a little bit of fun at the traditional boudoir style of photo shoot, which is a very serious, sexy, lingerie-type photo shoot, but we’re doing it with standard Australian men in all their glory.
“They’re doing what they love as well – some guys that are gardening, playing golf, and feeding the chickens – and doing it with their gut on show, and having a bit of a laugh while doing it.
“It’s a specific kind of Australian humour as well, to poke fun at yourself.”
Dudeoir helps to recognise that men don’t need to have a ‘six-pack’ to have value.
“It’s promoting that positive body image, on the male side, but doing it playfully,” Mr Vale said of the project.
“Especially with males these days, with body dysmorphia, having big muscles and a ‘six-pack’ is not necessary, and most men are not like that, and it’s okay.”
Dudeoir, with around 20 pages, will feature about 20 real men.
“We’ve done some oldies. We’ve got some young guys who are keen,” Mr Vale said.
“We just want to avoid the, you know, ‘model look’. Some people have approached it a bit like that and we’ve had to say, ‘You know, it’s not going to be like that’.
“It can be dirty and gritty and just in your back yard, not cleaned up, or in your kitchen with a pile of dishes in the background – and it looks amazing.
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“I’m an Aussie bloke as well. I’m nothing special, physically, and it’s a very comfortable fun environment while we’re doing it. It ended up really fun and exciting. We just have a laugh and get right into it.
“They were hesitant to start with – because you are putting yourself on show, too, and that takes a lot of guts – but doing it for a good cause sort of pushed them through.”
A portion of the proceeds from Dudeoir will go to Movember, for mental health support services.
“It’s a bit of an ‘unspoken’ for a bloke. You’ve just got to toughen up and push through,” Mr Vale said.
“You don’t ask for praise, you’re not going to be a model or anything, and I guess they just need to know they’re doing a good job when they are.”
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