Photography bySteven Gabriel

Over the years, my relationship with nudity has been a bit of a rollercoaster. I say this because it has been a journey with coming to terms and dealing with my insecurities and self-esteem issues.

Eventually I came to realize that the more I learned to love myself, the more confident, open and adventurous I became.

I have been to nudist beaches once or twice. I recently spent the day at a spa with my boyfriend, just hanging out naked on a rooftop with some drinks, enjoying the sun and the freedom of being naked and happy with my partner. That’s the peak of my journey with nudity so far.

I chose to shoot male nudes because I’ve always been fascinated by the male form and the many different shapes, colors and sizes they can be.

I also chose to shoot them in the shower with dark, sexy and moody lighting because I felt it accentuated more details of the body that I find beautiful.

Aside from the obvious, I called the series Wet because I feel that a sexy shower scene can get anyone wet! I know I totally got wet in the process [laughs].

Personally, I love to see the light glisten off of wet skin and capturing the water trickle down their bodies.

Finding models wasn’t as hard as I expected. I am grateful for the age of Instagram and other social media platforms that have made it easier to execute my vision. I started off asking a few close friends if they would model for me to help me start the project. I posted a few shots on social media and shortly after some of the models slid into my DMs asking to participate in the series.

That’s right, I decided to take a break from shooting with models due to the COVID-19 pandemic. My studio is inside my apartment, so I wanted to stay safe and limit any traffic within my building and apartment.

I recently started teaching myself to play the piano as another creative outlet and have noticed it’s also a great way to de-stress.