A man with a shaved head wearing cuffs on his wrists rests his arms against stone tiles.
This black and white photograph was suggested by Val who said, “This is one of my favorite images ever.” I wish I knew why Val liked it so much, because while it is certainly beautiful and has obvious overtones of submissive intent—the man’s open palms, cuffs, and tilted head—very little here strikes me.
Is this man against a wall, or is he resting on the floor? Why can’t we see that clearly? Why must the “artistic” nature of so many images of submission, particularly when the solo model is a man, be about implication, mystery, or emotion rather than activity and actual physicality?

