Johan van Breukelen (1952) is a visual artist who, since 1989 has specialized in the male nude. In the beginning it was photo-artwork using a combination of photography and chalk. Nowadays it is solely pure photography (without the use of Photoshop or digital image editing!). Characteristic in his work is often the multiple image and the distortion of the model.

Because of this, mirrors are an essential component of the photograph. In his photographs he tries to capture some of the mystery, strength and vulnerability of male sexual energy. Van Breukelen has been fascinated by the darker side of (homo) sexuality with its sometimes deforming aspects.

At the same time he wants to show some of the innocence and the beauty of desire, the search for contact and connection.

On this Internet site can you examine the photographs. There  are several possibilities for signing on for a photography session in the form of either a personal  photo shoot, or as a model for his free work

review

In which category can we place the work of Johan van Breukelen?
For years, the painter Paul Cezanne used the mountain, Sainte Victoire in Provence as a subject for his work. He painted and sketched the mountain from all angles. Yet, you can't say that his work was principally based on 'mountain work'.
In the same way, the work of Johan van Breukelen can't be simply categorized as 'the male nude' or 'erotic photography'. The work is often too dark, or through ingenious use of mirrors, too 'deformed' for such a simple definition. In some cases one can clearly see that his models have well proportioned bodies that could comply with certain aesthetic standards.

However, in contrast to many artists who use male nudity as the subject of their often, homo-erotic work, Johan van Breukelen seems to look beyond mere youth and beauty. In his work the concepts of ‘beauty’ and ‘youth’ generally refer immediately to the inevitable decay that’s going on under the surface. Naked bodies are depicted in twisted and deformed poses, wrestling with themselves and each other. You could interpret much of his work as being loaded with pain and even involving a struggle between life and death itself.

Yet in Van Breukelen's work, this doesn't lead automatically to darkness and depression. The struggle and suffering guides him towards a form of dance and play involving vulnerability and power using shadows, light and wonderful colour. It is mainly due to these combinations that his photography, especially in the last few years, shows a boundary-stretching and joyous quality.