He has exhibited extensively in the US and internationally. In the 1990s and early 2000s Ron photographed for fitness and sports magazines including Men's Health, Men's Fitness and Sports Illustrated. Much of Ron's work centers on issues of sexual identity. His early influences were fashion and portrait photographers of the Richard Avedon, Robert Mapplethorpe and Francesco Scavullo. Ron Amato has been making photographs since his childhood in Brooklyn, NY. I decided go through my archives to see if I could find more that spoke to me the same way. Images like these bring me back home over and over again, back to my truth. The simple act of touching holds a power beyond words. There is an honesty and purity in these moments that reaffirms my truth. you know the one: against the wall when neither man could bear not touching the other for one more second). It takes me back to my first Pride parade, or the first time I saw men holding hands on the street, or the first time I saw Brokeback Mountain (specifically the make out scene. Being denied the normalization of my own affections toward men, it can still be deeply emotional for me to see men touch in an affectionate way. Much of my work explores men's affection toward each other. 'Growing up in a culture where you rarely see the same gender (particularly men) touch, images like these can be disarming.
