(Picture: Laura Dodsworth/Manhood)

WARNING: This article does indeed contain actual pictures of penises. It is NSFW. Be warned.

Penises. We talk a lot about them. We think about them.

But outside of the context of our sexual partners or porn, we don’t actually get to have a proper look at them, in all their glorious variety.

'I secretly recorded my boyfriend for two years and made it into a podcast'

Just like vulvae, penises can vary in all kinds of wonderful ways. They can have a slight angle. They vary in skin tone. They vary in – the big one – size.


That’s worth exploring, not just to satisfy our curiosity (which is boundless) but also to reassure men that they’re not alone in thinking their penis is too wonky, too pink, or too small – and to explore why we place so much emphasis and importance on the member.



In Manhood: The Bare Reality, photographer Laura Dodsworth views the concept of masculinity via the penis.

After two years photographing women’s breasts for her , Laura was ready to move on. Or move lower, to be more specific. She decided she wanted to hear men’s stories, too – and set herself the task of photographing 100 men and their penises.

‘I found myself feeling creatively and emotionally out of balance as the project drew to a close,’ Laura told metro.co.uk.

Picture: Laura Dodsworth)

‘I felt really comfortable with what womanhood meant for me, but realised I needed to hear men’s stories too – to understand manhood.’

She quickly set to work on finding her subjects.

‘I asked everyone I knew,’ said Laura. ‘Who asked everyone they knew, who asked everyone they knew.

‘I approached certain communities of people, like prostate cancer groups, naturists, men’s groups, etc.

‘Once men had taken part, they often put someone else forward.’

Click to expand. (Picture: Laura Dodsworth)

The process of taking the photographs wasn’t quite as awkward as you might expect. The emphasis was on comfort and openly discussing bodies and manhood, rather than any pressure to show off the penis as a glorious, huge presence, and each man was kept anonymous while sharing their stories.

‘Some men were happy to take everything off and walk boldly over to the camera,’ said Laura. ‘Some were very nervous.

‘I think it felt quite emotional for a few men. Some were about to bare cancer scars, or suffered from a sense of shame about their body. Some were relaxed. Some were proud.’

While Laura felt ‘a bit embarrassed’ during the first few photoshoots, she became pretty blasé in respect to the penis by the end of the project. As you would, after photographing 100.

She learned a lot, too.

Laura explains: ‘There is, in fact, a huge range of normal – men come in all shapes and sizes.

‘Men feel pressure about body image, in similar ways to women, albeit a bit less so. I had no idea how many men carry around anxiety and insecurity about the size of their penis, or some aspect of their performance.



‘Because penises are more taboo men don’t see a big variety of real ones around.

‘I think a lot of the men in this project would have benefited from reading Manhood when they were younger and it would have dispelled myths and put their minds at rest.

‘Many of the men who have taken part have done so specifically to help other men, and younger men, by relating their experiences.

‘I knew when starting ‘Manhood’ that I would be surprised, delighted, inspired and moved. We never know someone’s story till we ask.

‘I was surprised, however, by the honesty. I don’t think men are given much opportunity to be honest and raw about their lives and feelings. I had never heard men talk like this.

‘Some of the men said they had never talked like this to anyone, including their partners.

‘There is a story with a man who has had testicular cancer twice. He was given the news he would live, at exactly the same time his mum found out her own cancer was incurable.

‘He carried a lot of survivor guilt, as well as having to heal from his own experience. I cried in that interview.

‘I was very moved by a 92 year old man who had taken part.

‘He’s lived a rich and fascinating life, and this snapshot of him in the book is as a 92 year old with dementia, looking back on the experiences of his life relating to masculinity. I couldn’t have been more surprised when he told me he was an intersectional feminist!


‘It’s a real privilege to be able to offer these stories to the world.’

If you’d like to read Manhood: The Bare Reality in full, you can preorder the book through Laura’s website or through Amazon. It’ll also be available in good bookstores from 15 June.

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