Wow! Great capture.

Great shot, it's my favourite of the series so far. You make good points about the male 'role' in society as well. It's good when a picture stimulates some thought!

this is quite funny..

very nice picture Dave, I love the toning and mood; although you do open a quite large can of worms with respect to your comments on masculanity, but its good to provoke thought like Jon said.

Benjamin: I guess I should have posted a disclaimer with my comment in that it's definitely my own opinion, that I don't expect will be shared by everyone.

What a clear photography!

Thank you for showing there is art and beauty in ALL of humanity.

Amazing how intimate people will be on camera. Did they know they were to be posted on a rather frequented site?

Black and white suits this.

nice shot and impressive gallery!! i spend some time to look at all the pictures and they are all great!

greets from germany,
starcolm

Nicely captured image, the post processing certainly enhances the subject..

I love this shot. And I appreciate your comments on masculinity in our world. After reading/seeing the Da Vinci Code, I can't help but wonder where our world woud be if each person wholey expressed both the feminine and masculine aspects of their self.

What a world it would be...

There are cultural models for what you're describing. I was in Italy recently, and was surprised and pleased to discover that it is not unusual to see hetero men holding hands in public, leaning against each other, or otherwise being somewhat affectionate. This is broadly accepted and not viewed as undermining their "masculinity".

Of course, being something of an urban-landscape nerd, I don't have any relevant street photography of this phenomenon to share from my trip, only landscapes at sunset and wooden doors. Perhaps I should change my priorities :-)

Great tone and detail; suitably soft to reflect your subjects' affection.

OFFTOPIC:
isn't this yours? :\ http://ftw.generation.no/?n=910

Sova - oh yes. Bring that baby down.......

as maiken has noted, here in Italy is quite common for male friends to salute each other with a "kiss" on a cheek (often more of a cheek-to-cheek, than a real kiss), or to hug each other as a way to express their feelings of friendship and closeness. and obviously nobody doubts about the masculinity.. it's actually kind of weird for italians to see how in other countries men are so afraid to physically express their feelings: moreover, we doubt of the masculinity of men who are afraid of physical contact with other men.
PS: once again, great photos here!

Love the shot and agree with much of the comment so far, the tender moment is really nice amongst what must have been a vibrant crowd, however I have to admit that my first thought on viewing was "isn't that Bobby Ball on the right?" Hmmmm.....sorry Dave. ;-)

Seems a quiet night on Chromasia, something about the picure or djn1's remarks slowing the comments?
Nice pic btw

I like this shot better than yesterdays. It has no context either but the situation tells a story, the shot is more explicit and the black & white quality is excellent.

Two fellas? A-kissin' and a-cuddlin'?
/Reeves & Mortimer

Yep, like it a lot. And I can see why you've done minimal processing on this. Definitely works well.

Nice moment you catured! Yesterdays photo was to soft in my mind.

Interesting comments on masculinity. maiken's comments agree with my understanding that this is not purely for the homosexual. In Arab culture men regularly walk hand in hand. In the UK within Christian circles men routinely greet each other with a hug.

I'm sure there are many more sub-cultures that counter the broader perceptions on male behaviour.

As always, great photography.

Being gentle and affectionate as 2 man in public isn't without risk. But thats why there are Gayprides. But i think shouting :" you should accept me" doesn't help, especially when showing of how different you are. this picture shows that nicely. Very nice shot.

Here in China, it is not uncommon for boys or young men to walk with arms around each other's shoulders. And its also not unusual for men to slap one another's thighs while sitting, talking, and laughing together, or even to rest ones hand on another's thigh. The thigh slapping caught me by surprise at first, but I learned to accept it. I'm not particularly fond of this picture, but your comments are thoughtful, and I agree with you. I'm looking forward to tomorrows entry.

Stunning ...

Your people shots, and then what you captured, what they allowed you ... stunning, just stunning.

Thanks everyone.

These are the kinds of shots that need to be seen by many people. In this culture (I'll just generalize to Pacific Northwest North America) there is a lot of intellectual acceptance - people "understand" that homosexuality is "okay." It will be photographs like this which perhaps hint that "okay" in that intellectual sense just doesn't do justice to the tenderness and grit that relationship (of any kind - gay, straight, filial, whatever) brings with it. We need to have these things stir our hearts... punch us in the gut. This is a beautiful photograph, and I'm glad you took it and shared it.

chris: thanks, that echoes my thoughts too.

Good image David and a good write up...

the image didn't interest me as much as you 'discussion'. i live in brighton, where the pride event (the organisers have dropped the term 'gay') is a huge event. the crowd is made up of a vast cross selection - i take my kids along each year and they love it. i think the attitude to gay culture in britain is definitely changing. i know brighton has always been a liberal, anything goes kind of place but i get the feeling britain is loosening up in its attitudes to sexuality. in 'bloke' culture the only time mass male physical closeness is welcomly tolerated is on the terraces when a goal is scored and the hugs begin. as for me - i often where pink shirts to work - the ladies comment how sexy it looks - the blokes how 'gay' !

Re:guy, affection & masculinity
Hopefully this isn't too little too late... but that is an interesting question. If you want to look at how masculinity is presented you need to also examing different cultures and how they treat it. Specifically, if you go to Eritrea or Ethiopia you will notice that males regularly hold hands in public, have a very close personal space and are more "affectionate" towards one another. What is even more interesting that one would never do this to a woman, unless that woman is a girlfriend/wife. Women in fact are even more apt to hold hands in public, in in that society where holding hands is something friend just do. why? Because there is no culture, public perception of homosexulality as an option or that it even exists (it doesn't mean it doesn't happen, just that it is assumed it doesn't happen). All this is explicitly NOT homosexual. In fact it is BECAUSE it "doesn't exist" that men feel comfortable enought to be affectionate... because it is explictly NOT gay.

Ironically, it is the presence of gay culture/awareness that seems to stop all this activity once all those people leave that country. I was born in Ethiopia, and I am Eritrean, but I grew up in Toronto, Canada. But when I went back with my dad, it made him uncomfortable to hold hands with an old friend... which is something I sure wasn't the case BEFORE he left. I didn't know any of this before I went back, but this absolutely blew me away.

The reason that men don't get more affectionate has everything to do with it being "too gay". Some interesting food for thought I think.