“ My vision for my project Manscapes was originally a book of fine art male portraits. There was no support for mens mental health in the original scheme of that so when Rhys took his life I decided I had to do something. The guys in the shoot are in the age bracket, that vulnerable age of boy to man, sometimes not knowing how to express themselves so I decided through my future projects I would do a fundraiser for mens mental health. I thought..What can I do this year? I have to get something out in Movember in honour of Rhys McNaughton so I rang up his mum Jodie and said let’s put a calendar out. I only decided 3 weeks ago.
The very first photo shoot he couldn’t stop laughing. It was a test shoot and he wasn’t sure whether he wanted to be in the book as it was nudes. So we just did the shoot in jeans and undies and if he wasn’t comfortable he would still have some nice photos of himself. When he saw the photos he was happy and the second shoot he felt comfortable enough to get his kit off and do the art shots nude. His mum said he hated getting his photo taken but when he saw the shots that I took he saw a different part of himself that I think he loved.”
Rhys was a person that seemed to have a perfect life. He only had one assignment left and he would have finished uni to become a sports science teacher. He worked at Mary Gilhooleys and he was very loved. He was a very successful football player, a surfer, everyone loved him. He had a great network of friends both here in Lismore and on the Central Coast where he grew up. He had a lovely girlfriend but he must have been suffering in silence, must have thought he couldn’t express himself. He was a very good looking boy, everything at his feet and then all of a sudden he took his own life. No warnings, not on medication, no note, nothing.
I’ve always wanted to have an exhibition showing the shots of Rhys so we are having a launch and an exhibition. 100% of the money raised will go to Movember which was Rhys’s favourite charity. When we came up with the idea I didn’t know how I would pay for it so a friend did a gofund me page and within 2 days we had raised the money for printing. I raced to my graphic designer friend and we quickly put together the calendar. The exhibition is on this Saturday at Fox Photo Den at 4pm. All Rhys’s friends will be there and we want everyone to come, not just his friends, to celebrate the life of Rhys and help us with our Movember project. Our goal is to raise $10,000. If we sell all the calendars we will raise that amount.
This exhibition is called ‘Photos for Life’ and the reason we called it that is through raising these funds we could save other peoples lives. Each year we want to put out a calendar. This first one is of Rhys so the second one will be his footy mates, the third one, his surfing mates, still feature Rhys but by doing this each year we will remember him and bring all his mates together.
There will be 2 calendars for sale on the day. Rhys’s calendar which 100% goes to Movember. My Manscape Calendar which is a preview of the next book and a percentage of those sales goes to Movember. All the prints will be for sale on the wall and all proceeds will go to Movember. There will be a gold coin donation for champagne or beers. If you can’t make it to the opening you can still purchase a calendar at The Book Warehouse, Lismore, on my Manscapes website or you can donate to the link below.
Photos for Life …Saturday 4pm at Fox Photo Den. 34 Union St, Lismore.
(If you don’t feel that you can talk to friends or family, there are many services available in Australia to support you.)
Lifeline 24 hour support -131114
Hold On To Life @ the Australian Suicide Prevention Foundation (24/7) – 1800 HOLDON (1800 465 366)
Suicide Callback – 1300 659 467 (available 24/7)
Mensline Aust. – 1300 78 99 24/7