The man behind the beard: Artist celebrates the machismo and might of men's facial hair by capturing hipsters, lumberjacks, and everything in between
For many, the man is only as good as his mustache. Which is exactly what photographer Joseph D. R. Oleary explores in a new exhibition entitled ‘Of Beards and Men,’ a work that examines the complicated relationship between a man, his facial hair, and his identity. After shooting 125 subjects, many of them who had never sat for a photo shoot, the result was an array of men whose looks are as diverse as they beards they sport. Hot fuzz: Photographer Joseph D. R. Oleary took the portraits of 125 bearded men in a new exhibition he calls 'Of Men and Beards' The mustache makes the man: Oleary examined how facial hair was part of the men's identities and portrayed their differentiating masculinity Rugged: For these men, facial hair showed they were into extreme sports Apothecary: This man favors a waxed mustache and beard Country-Western: The proud countenance of a cattle rancher The Minneapolis College of Art and Design graduate, who lives and works out of