77 More Photos of Mostly Naked Russian Men

It's not without a little conflict that we post images of male nudes from Russia. The country as a whole has a reputation of profound homophobia. And yes, here are beautiful, sensual photos of naked men, some overtly sexual, and all taken by another man. We find a little hope here. That we all appreciate the naked male form gives us a point of unity. Sometimes politics must be unhitched from art.

Thirty-three-year-old Evgeniy Kovrov, born in Arkhangelsk, Russia, currently works and lives in St. Petersburg. He is mostly self-taught and began shooting by sweet-talking his friends into posing and by shooting self-portraits (some of which are included here.)

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In his own words (modified by Google Translate): "I want to find my recognizable style so that my photos do not excite the flesh, but at the same time shoot a candid nude. You need to learn how to shoot nude so that the viewer does not immediately realize that the model has no clothes. That the model is undressed not only for the pleasure of the eyes, but also its inner world is bare, the soul is bare. It is difficult, and this is my goal."

He takes inspiration from Yuri Rost, Herbert List, George Platt Lynes, Robert Mappelthorpe, Herb Ritts, and Annie Leibovitz.

The great news, just released and available on Amazon: Russian Men: Evgeniy Kovrov Photography; 220 pages of his wonderful work finally makes it to print. The book is also available on the Hagen von Kornbach book shop site.

Follow his progress on his web site Kornbach.com, Facebook, and Instagram.