Cosima Kaibel: Nude Photography of Men Shifts Power Dynamics

Berlin-based artist Cosima Kaibel invites heterosexual men from dating apps to pose nude for her photographs, a project that explores shifting gender roles and power dynamics. In a guest article for Monopol, Kaibel details how the act of photographing nude men reverses traditional visual hierarchies, placing men in the position of being aesthetically objectified. She notes that most men are unaccustomed to posing or being aestheticized, especially when their buttocks are the focus, yet they often end up proud of the results—one participant even uses the images on his dating profile. Kaibel observes that while many participants harbor romantic or sexual expectations, her interest lies in image production and the negotiation of social roles. The project, which began in 2023 when she offered to draw a man nude to revive a dating app chat, has evolved into a series of photographs, drawings, and paintings, along with documented chat logs and diary-like entries. She has also produced a calendar of buttocks, popular as gifts from men to their partners, with another planned for 2027. Kaibel aims to create a book once she has satisfactorily depicted 100 buttocks (50 men). The originals will be exhibited during Berlin Art Week at RWK Studios by 3CA. Kaibel's work challenges normative codes of heterosexuality and proposes alternative ways of viewing bodies, highlighting how power is constructed and shifted through the photographic gaze.