Stories Told With The Penis

“Every one of Laura Dodsworth’s penises is unique: introvert and extrovert, straight and bendy, wobblers and bobblers, growers and showers. There are contented penises that have led full lives, and disappointed penises that have let down their owners – or been let down by their owners.”

Laura Dodsworth, the photographer who in 2014 made a series of photos exploring women’s relationships with their breasts, turns her attention to men in her new book, Manhood. She took photos of 100 men, showing their penises, testicles, bellies and hands, and interviewed each man about what manhood represents for them and their relationship with their penis.

After a short interview with Dodsworth, we’re given a preview of the book and shown some of the pictures and stories of the men she worked with for her project. And this is where it gets profoundly humane and touching. From the top of my head, the stories that impressed me most were from the 20-year-old dude who was fighting porn addiction; the guy who was born a woman and had sex reassignment surgery; the man who was born with spina bifida, a disability that made him incontinent. Those and the other examples given in the article are in-depth interviews. The stories are so well told that you have the feeling you just watched a short video about the life of each man.