The White Book is a photographic series that interprets the illustrations of Jean Cocteau’s book of the same name. The book, published in 1928, is about the discovery of the author’s homosexuality, although he never admitted authorship of this work. Yet, the second edition of the book contains illustrations by Jean Cocteau, which I used as inspirations for creating my artworks.

I was struck by how these illustrations of hybrid lovers reminded me of my own photographic work dealing with the human body and its metamorphosis. Both erotic and troubling, they depict  male fantasies of our time, in a tangle of bodies sometimes unidentifiable. They can be interpreted as a romantic idyll, as much as an erotic struggle, or, on the contrary, as an introspection.

Photography | Jonathan Icher | @jonathanicher

Illustrations | Jean Cocteau

Assistance | Ryûq Qiddo | @ryuq.qiddo

Photo 01 – model | Ryûq Qiddo | @ryuq.qiddo

Photo 02 – model | Matthieu Reboul | @mattrebpro

Photo 03 – model | François Sagat | @francoisssagat

Photo 04 – model | Arthur Gillet | @arthurouge

Photo 05 – model | Florian | @fkfbrln

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