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Ron Amato explains his process taking these beautiful photos of men mostly in Provincetown:
“Eighteen years ago I visited Provincetown, Massachusetts for the first time. Although it was a pleasure trip, making photographs is always part of every adventure on which I embark. As usual, I packed my camera, a few lens and some film. At the last minute, I decided to throw more film into my bag. I ended up taking all the film in my refrigerator. Something told me I might need it.”
See more at RonAmato.com and his Instagram. And see the video below:
“That first visit to Provincetown was a transformative experience for me. It was a feast for all my senses, most importantly my vision. The combination of beautiful men and beautiful landscape was too seductive to resist. As any artist living in, or visiting Provincetown frequently, knows, the light there is extraordinary. I knew this from Joel Meyerowitz's seminal work Cape Light, but wasn’t prepared for the effect it would have on me. I ended up shooting every frame of film I took with me. It began what is sure to be a lifelong project I call Men In Nature.”
“I’ve been contributing to this body of work for the past eighteen years. I try to make images everywhere I travel, from Fire Island in New York to Lake Como in Italy. It is made with all natural light, which differentiates it from my other work which, for the most part, is made with created light. It is as striped down and natural as possible, just the human body in nature. There are no affectations, no accoutrements. This work is at once a travelogue, diary, and autobiography. At the end of my life, it will be the body of work I will look back on most fondly.”
The Summer Diary Project is a curated collection of male photography, queer art, and gay pop culture that’s told in a daily narrative by its founder and creative director Billy Mecca.
Beginning on Tumblr in 2009 as a side project, the SDP eventually evolved in 2014 into Summer Diary Magazine, expanding their online storytelling through its increasingly popular instagram feed and the exclusive editorials & interviews they developed from SDP contributors worldwide. This November, Summer Diary has just opened Summer Outpost - its online shop and art gallery, selling original paintings, exclusive prints, digital magazines, and their new calendar for 2019.
See more at SummerDiaryProject.com, Instagram, Gaythering.com, Outpost.SummerDiaryProject.com
On December 5th, Summer Diary heads from its Jersey Shore home to South Beach to exhibit at “the gayest fair at Miami Art Week” — the Art Gaysel show at Hôtel Gaythering. “Alex Guerra, Art Gaysel’s founder & curator, reached out to me on Instagram to come down this year and show” says Billy. “I couldn’t be more delighted and honored to be a part of this diverse talented group of gay artists Alex has put together.”
Now in its 4th year, Gaythering’s Art Gaysel event hosts over 30 gay artists. “If you’re into collecting queer art and having a good time” says Billy, “this must be the place for you to be in Miami Beach evenings during Art Basel”.
Summer Diary will be showing select works from “The Sun Bathers”, their current online show of original paintings by Richard Stabbert, “Men In Nature”, an exclusive & very limited edition of prints by SDP contributing photographer Ron Amato (included here in this gallery), and “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”, one-of-a-kind hand painted vintage postcards by Nolan Grünwald.
Art Gaysel runs from December 5 - 9, 2018. Open daily at 5 p.m. No admission fee. Hôtel Gaythering, 1409 Lincoln Road, South Beach
