Men at the ... mat!

Amy Goalen, the photographer we had the pleasure of interviewing, made us reflect on a fact that was actually little considered: yoga is a woman .

Newspaper covers, photos on the web, videos on youtube: men are very poorly represented in this discipline, despite the fact that many teachers and practitioners belong to the sex called strong.

Thanks to his shots, we have discovered a universe of peaceful contemporary "warriors" who prefer the rug to the soccer game to release tensions or to feel fit and at peace with themselves.

To celebrate this choice, Amy has decided to create a photographic project entirely for men that portrays men of all ages immersed in yoga practice ; a manifesto, we could say, to be waved in front of those who believe that this is an unmanly activity reserved only to women.

These photographs are so animated by a conceptual and artistic purpose that we invite you to share them with all the men in your life who are still reluctant to practice.

" Inside the warrior " is certainly an interesting and original project. Can you tell us how this innovative idea came about? Among other things, we are intrigued by a fundamental aspect that characterizes all of your work: the word yoga means "union", also of masculine and feminine. Why did you decide to focus so much on yogis compared to yoginis? What are the roots of this choice?

I started photographing yogis about two years ago when my teacher asked me for promotional photos of her classes. These shots came out so well that I decided to continue.

I started by observing the work of other yoga photographers and immediately noticed that most of them focused only on women : in fact, it is really rare to see a man on the cover of the Yoga Journal. I realized that yoga was strongly characterized in the feminine, even the clothing is mainly aimed at women.

So I began to focus my project on male yoga . Here in Santa Monica it is not difficult to meet many men who do yoga and yet there is a sort of stigma towards them. The perception is that practicing is not manly and that it is a "women's" activity.

So I contacted Julian DeVoe thanks to a mutual friend; he is a writer and yogi and was interviewing men for the book about male yoga. When he learned what I wanted to accomplish we decided to work together to call the project " Inside the warrior - the masculine side of yoga " just to emphasize and celebrate the men who choose yoga practice all over the world . ALL men, of all ages, every body shape, every level of training, etc ...

Some time ago I interviewed your Californian colleague Robert Sturman, also a famous yogi photographer (men and women). I ask you the same question that I asked him: what do you think is the "perfect photo" of a person while he is practicing? In other words: what do you aspire to capture and then transmit when you take a picture in this context? The grace of a position, spirituality, harmony, inner and outer strength ...

The perfect picture of a yogi is the one that reveals the man behind and beyond the asana . When I decide to take a photograph it is not just to show this or that position: I am attracted by the images it evokes or I try to capture an authentic expression, a true smile.

I try to convey the emotion of the subject in front of me and I try to steal the man who transpires from the photo. I also really like the calm and serenity that can emerge from a shot, that moment in which the yogi is totally immersed in practice and in contact with his most authentic Self.

We conclude our chat with a joke and a proposal: have you ever thought of converting your female project by starting a project like "Inside the goddeness" to involve women too?

I have taken many photos of women doing yoga, especially couples during acro-yoga sessions. I really like doing them and I try to show the complicity, the feeling and the trust that are established between the partners.