©Aidan Avery, Emmanue’l, from Under Punches

I don’t exactly remember when I first subscribed to The Open Call List, a substack with a wide array of photographic opportunities that had a different quality to it. It felt ethical and supportive and offered up a host of opportunities that were new to me. I was curious to discover the person behind the effort and looked into the career and work by Aidan Avery. Avery is not only an accomplished photographer, but also works at the Center for Creative Photography (Tucson, AZ), is an adjunct instructor at Chandler-Gilbert Community College and Phoenix Community College, giving him a perspective from both sides of the table.

Today we feature his on-going project, Under Punches, that is a consideration of violence and masculinity, through a series of portraits. examining what it means to be a young man in the United States today.

A conversation with the artist follows.

©Aidan Avery, Austin, from Under Punches

Tell us about your growing up and what brought you to photography.

I came to photography in a circuitous way. I first went to film school, then worked in documentary film for a few years. That brief experience taught me a lot about image-making and visual storytelling. Then, in my early 20s, I went back to school to focus on philosophy and writing, and eventually did a master’s degree in nonfiction creative writing.

Throughout all of that, I was always tinkered with photography – making portraits, or photographing public protests, and so on. But in graduate school, when I got access to a darkroom, I started to fall in love with the medium. Photography scratched the visual itch that documentary filmmaking had, and seemed like a natural counterbalance to the writing I was doing. Before long, I started doing far less writing and making far more photographs.

©Aidan Avery, Collier, from Under Punches

Your series, Under Punches, comes at an interesting time in considering masculinity, especially in the U.S. I recently watched the Louis Theroux documentary, Inside the Manosphere, and realized that none of the men had grown up with fathers. I’m wondering if the need to use violence to become more masculine has to do with the lack of male role models?

To be honest, I haven’t seen Inside the Manosphere yet.

But your point about the absence of male role models is interesting. I’ll also add to it that the opposite can be true: many young men grow up with male role models who demonstrate physical violence and traditionally “masculine” behavior. In the series I depict a few father-son relationships. I hope to photograph more of those, as well as other types of male-male relationships.

I’ve also been thinking a lot about role models outside of the immediate family, in particular given the current political climate in the United States, which seems to accept and even exalt male violence to a degree that feels new to me. I am talking about the rhetoric, physical violence, state violence, etc., and how proudly all of that violence is put on display these days. I mean, we just saw a UFC fight on the white house lawn.

I wouldn’t say that this project is about politics. But it is about observing what it means to be a young man in the United States today, and without a doubt that is inherently linked to the politics of the day.

©Aidan Avery, Edwin, from Under Punches

Your brother’s involvement in boxing sparked the project. How has your understanding of him changed through making this work?

I’m sure most people can relate to having their understanding of a sibling, or other loved one, shift as that person enters adulthood or undergoes some sort of major change. By now, my brother, Collier, has been a boxer long enough that it doesn’t surprise me when I show up and he has new tattoos and evident muscles. That’s the person I see him as now.

And I think that’s how it goes: You see a loved one become the person they are going to become, and your understanding of them tags along.

The project asks whether aggression is innate or learned. After your conversations with these fighters, where do you find yourself on that question?

Maybe both are true.

My brother has helped me understand that, at least for some, it is learned. In fact, I asked him recently about how was able to get into, and sustain, the mental state needed to enter a ring with someone who is trying to punch his lights out. He said, “I had to teach myself the aggression.” That makes sense to me, because I remember a softer version of him.

I’m sure for others it feels more innate, in the same way that the absence of aggression feels innate to me.

©Aidan Avery, Jose, from Under Punches

What aspects of these men do you feel remain invisible even after photographing and interviewing them?

This project is still a work in progress, in part because I feel like there are things about it that I haven’t yet cracked or depicted. For example, I follow the boxers that I photograph on social media. I see that a lot of them have romantic partners with whom they share sweet and tender relationships. That side of the fighters isn’t present in the project right now. 

I try to find softness in the fighters’ faces, and bring a softer aesthetic to my portraiture, but I haven’t yet gotten into romantic relationships or home life, at least not to a large extent. Among other things, I feel that that would help fill out my depiction of some of these young men.

©Aiden Avery, Collier and His Dad David, from Under Punches

Why did you choose portraiture as the primary visual strategy rather than documenting fights, training sessions, or gym culture more extensively?

I actually spent several months documenting gym sessions and organized fights before I switched to formal portraiture. I have seen some amazing images of boxing in action and gym culture, but when I tried to shoot in those settings, I felt that my photos didn’t convey the sort of personality or humanity that I wanted to capture in the men. The images were too athletic. 

I like that where I landed is a softer aesthetic that some reviewers have told me verges on feminine. I am trying to look beyond the fact that these are muscular men who fight. And I think the most successful of the images here begin to do that, to go beyond the depiction of a fighter as simply a fighter, I mean.

What has been your biggest take-away from making the work?

My biggest takeaway isn’t even about this project, but just about making work in general. I work slowly and methodically by nature. But this project has affirmed for me repeatedly that I need to shoot more and shoot often.

©Aidan Avery, Alex, from Under Punches

Changing courses, can you share how and why you started the substack, The Open Call List?

Absolutely! 

The Open Call List is a weekly newsletter I write in which I compile and share upcoming opportunities for photographers, including calls for exhibitions, publications, grants, residencies, jobs, and more. Via the newsletter, I also write and publish material meant to support career growth for art photographers, such as interviews with photo curators, a directory of galleries/museums that accept submissions, a list of fully-funded residencies, etc. 

When I was studying creative writing, I subscribed to a similar newsletter that shared opportunities for writers, and I found it to be an extremely helpful resource. As I transitioned to photography, I started tracking similar kinds of opportunities but for my own photographic practice. I wasn’t aware of a newsletter that shared them, so I decided to start it myself. 

At the time, I was also working at the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, Arizona, (where I still work now). I think being both a photographer myself and an industry insider helped me feel comfortable building a resource like The Open Call List. 

It has become an amazing way for me to feel more connected to the photo community and to contribute something outside of just making photographs (and working at the Center).

©Aidan Avery, Adam, from Under Punches

What have you learned from creating this fantastic resource?

I have learned a lot about how the photo arts industry operates. But above all, I’ve learned just how many people in the world – gallerists, curators, publishers, other photographers (including yourself, Aline!) – are creating opportunities and making positive contributions to the photo community. I come across new photo-based organizations and opportunities often, and I find that very refreshing and affirming. 

©Aidan Avery, Josias, from Under Punches

So many artists have complained about the costs of submitting to exhibitions and grants (and many photographers at the beginning of their careers can’t participate at all due to cost)…and then if they do get into a show, the cost of framing and shipping work (that probably won’t get sold)  requires a lot of time, energy, and money to participate.  What are your thoughts on the subject?

That’s an important and complex question, since there are opportunities of all types (and of vastly varying costs) out there. 

Everybody comes to their artistic practice with varying resources – I mean, the amount of time, energy, and financial resources they have available. And I am a firm believer that there need to be opportunities available for everyone, no matter their resources. 

That is why I’m extra enthusiastic and supportive of opportunities that are free for artists (like, for example, the Lenscratch exhibition calls). Opportunities like the ones you host are not only free to apply to, but also do not require the artist to spend any money on framing, shipping, or anything else. While an online exhibition might not be right for everyone or every stage of one’s career, I think it’s fantastic that these calls exist, especially for emerging artists. In the newsletter, slightly over half of the opportunities I share do not have submission fees.

That’s also why I offer The Open Call List on a sliding scale, including for free for anyone who cannot afford a subscription. To me, accessibility is vital in our industry. Increasing accessibility is a major goal of what I am doing. 

On the flip side, obviously not every organization is in a financial situation to cover all the costs of the opportunities. Physical exhibitions or high quality publications necessarily require money, and not all non-profits are in a financial situation to take on 100% of the cost. And I understand that, for many organizations, the money garnered by the submission fees are what allow for the opportunity to exist at all. I don’t rule out opportunities with submission fees or that require artists to frame or ship their work. However, I do look at them closely, because some are better than others. For me, the guiding principle is if I feel that the organization truly has the artists’ best interests in mind. Admittedly, that’s a bit abstract and subjective, but I think that you do get a very good sense of it after looking at hundreds or thousands of open calls. 

©Aidan Avery, Solomon and His Son Adonis, from Under Punches

Have you seen a new path to getting work out by being exposed to so many “opportunities”?

If you mean one the scale of individual opportunities, I have seen literally hundreds of opportunities that I was not aware of before starting The Open Call List. 

If you mean getting work out there on a more general, career-growth scale, then I’m not sure that I’ve seen a “new path,” so to speak. But, what has been affirmed for me is that most artists’ success stories don’t involve a singular, big break. The photographers I see getting solo shows and having their work acquired by museums get to that point through cumulative growth by working hard on their art, being thoughtful about how they share it, trying to get it in front of as many eyes as possible (especially industry eyes), and repeating that cycle. 

©Aidan Avery, Cesar, from Under Punches

Do you have future plans for the site?

Yes! To follow up on that last question, in addition to maintaining the weekly list of open calls and continuing to create the sort of additional resources I’m already sharing, I have also been working on a series of interviews with photographers who have, we might say, “made it.” These interviews will focus on exactly what you just asked about: the paths and specific steps that each photographer took to move from “emerging” status to a successful, mid-career position.

I hope that getting into the nitty gritty of these details (When did you start showing your work? How did you get your first solo show? How did you develop a relationship with X museum? Etc.) will help emerging photographers see possible paths for their own career growth.

Thank you, Aidan, for all you do for our community!

©Aiden Avery, Josias’s Gloves, Polaroid, from Under Punches