By: Falene Nurse Category: ART+FASHION Date: 25.Aug.2014

Quinn by Guan Jr Guo for Real Good Looking… a weekly visual exploration taking a closer look at how we look at men. 

Guan Jr Guo was born and spent his formative years in Taipei, Taiwan. He leans towards vivid candids and stark black and whites, with his portraits creating a deeper meaning in every shot. He believes that there are always emotions to be recorded, in the real moments. 

QUINN

Beguiling Beauty 

Susan Sontag once said “What is the most beautiful in virile men is something feminine… ” and when we first saw Quinn, one couldn’t help but think Sontag could have been referring to him directly. Quinn has perfect poreless skin, magnificent eyebrows and a runner’s build. He was nice enough to let No ToFu into his home (and boudoir) to take some portraits for our series, the results of which I think you will agree are quite bewitching. 

 

 

Where – Home, Bedroom, Window

When – Summer, Los Angeles, 2014

Why – Because although we celebrate the rugged, the Ryan Goslings and the Alex Rodriguezes of the world – the brawny and the beautiful are worshipped – when a man is an ‘actual beauty,’ everyone gets a tad… nervous.

Then of course there’s Keanu, an actor so beguiling his looks made him more creature of legend and myth, than man. A beauty of such power it couldn’t be contained by mere media or even the audience.  Women swooned, directors stumbled and even straight men began to question their own sexuality; simply because they too found him ‘so stunning.’ But I guess that’s allowed, because he’s Eurasian — as opposed to androgynous? Which is much safer as far as everyone here in La La Land is concerned. Online, he’s even been accused of being immortal. Visit Keanumandu, the Online Virtual Temple of the Society for Keanu Consciousness and one begins to see the level to which the myth of Keanu has grown. One also wonders, if he were 100% caucasian would it all be presented as quite so… mystical. Strangely, Mark-Paul Gosselaar (also Eurasian) with much more traditionally handsome good looks was never portrayed in quite the same manner, or had the same affect. Then again for most of his career, he was seen as a blond. Creating the enigma of Keanu of course, makes it ok that his lips are fuller than yours, his skin better than hers and his face more gorgeous than, well, everyone’s.  You now have the right to be both jealous and sexually confused, it’s no longer your fault. It’s his, because he is something so rare. So exotic, so exquisite, he’s one like no other. But is he really?

Look at Quinn, his mouth too is subtle, his upper lip sublime. Perfection de peau and a softness to his face that if it could be store bought, would leave shelves empty in every dermatologists and beauty department in Bel Air. Quinn is ageless yet relaxed, demure and delicious, cool, calm and confident. Now how do you feel about him, are you attracted or maybe a little jealous? Is this why men who are ‘true beauties’ are so rarely celebrated in the masses?

Or do we fetishize that which we don’t completely understand? Before Keanu there was no one like Keanu, his cross pollination of ethnicity, culture and looks were unheard of. He had to be explained. Straight, gay, man, woman, white, Asian and other, were inexplicably drawn to him. He was the kind of charismatic that Hollywood could not dampen. Yet he neither looked too manly or overtly pretty , but most importantly he didn’t look completely white. Like Quinn, he was simply a beauty to behold. And aren’t they the most dangerous kind?

Thanks Quinn for baring it all for No ToFu. Next time Quinn reveals more in his Remix, will he still be quite so beguiling?

OBJECTIFYING MEN, TOGETHER, FOR THE GREATER GOOD OF AMERICA: Join me again next week in the glorious objectification of men.

And check out the Remix for other subjects from the Real Good Looking series.