Hi, Hello! by Romain Duquesne c/o BIRD PRODUCTION is an ironic semi literal/semi metaphorical visual exploration, into the absurdity of masculinity and the ways in which men and boys navigate through all of its notions.
Another Magazine: 'Never before has masculinity been under so much scrutiny: questions of what it is, how it connects to power and privilege, how it can be harmful or ‘toxic’ fill contemporary discourse. It’s something that Romain Duquesne – a Belgium-born, Australia-raised photographer – has spent a lot of time ruminating on and it’s this that drove him to create Hi, Hello!, a photography book that he describes as “an ironic semi-literal, semi-metaphorical visual exploration into the absurdity of masculinity and the ways in which men and boys navigate through all of its notions”. The book opens with the words “for men who are boys, a cry to connect” scrawled across an image, which Duquesne says is “a way to identify the male who demonstrates a brash example of masculine stereotypes. For men seeking to vocalise all of their opinions with an emphatic delivery.” What follows is a series of soft, sensual photos that attempt to visualise some of the ways masculinity expresses itself. Featuring models, along with some of Duquesne’s friends, the focus is on male bodies and the interaction between male bodies; the touching of hands, the flexing of arms ... Duquesne’s photographic language itself takes inspiration from Speak Italian: The Fine Art of the Gesture by Bruno Munari, the early work of Walter Pfeiffer and the portraiture of Man Ray, but these influences are not literal and the book stands as a strong, singular body of work.'
Another Magazine: 'Never before has masculinity been under so much scrutiny: questions of what it is, how it connects to power and privilege, how it can be harmful or ‘toxic’ fill contemporary discourse. It’s something that Romain Duquesne – a Belgium-born, Australia-raised photographer – has spent a lot of time ruminating on and it’s this that drove him to create Hi, Hello!, a photography book that he describes as “an ironic semi-literal, semi-metaphorical visual exploration into the absurdity of masculinity and the ways in which men and boys navigate through all of its notions”. The book opens with the words “for men who are boys, a cry to connect” scrawled across an image, which Duquesne says is “a way to identify the male who demonstrates a brash example of masculine stereotypes. For men seeking to vocalise all of their opinions with an emphatic delivery.” What follows is a series of soft, sensual photos that attempt to visualise some of the ways masculinity expresses itself. Featuring models, along with some of Duquesne’s friends, the focus is on male bodies and the interaction between male bodies; the touching of hands, the flexing of arms ... Duquesne’s photographic language itself takes inspiration from Speak Italian: The Fine Art of the Gesture by Bruno Munari, the early work of Walter Pfeiffer and the portraiture of Man Ray, but these influences are not literal and the book stands as a strong, singular body of work.'
