Brawn meets beauty

British photographer Mark Leeming was inspired. “I am somewhat of a magpie and have always been drawn to all things that sparkle and shine,” he says.

This fascination with glitz and glamour began as a child, when Leeming would raid his mother’s jewellery box for fun. But even as he grew older, his fondness for all things shiny never wavered. “I have a passion for capturing faces and wanted to create a few creative portraits of friends in full face makeup,” Leeming says. “I quite liked the idea of pushing and blurring the boundaries of the femme vs masc stereotypes.”

The result is Bearded Brutes, a collection of photographs bursting with colour, sparkle and, of course, beards. Combining the masculinity of the bearded male with the kitsch, camp flamboyance of heavy make-up and theatrical poses, Leeming’s photos offer an interesting insight into the juxtapositions of modern masculinity.

“I wanted to show gay males with a kitsch playful quality” Leeming explains.  “Over the past five years I have become more and more integrated into the drag community, and I have really soaked up the theatrics, artistry and performance. These influences transcended into my working style and this ultimately formed the Bearded Brutes.”