1979 (negative); 1995 (print)

Angelo in Robe

David Lebe

American, born 1948

David Lebe created this image by using a penlight to trace the features of a man and the bedroom in which he sits. Lebe describes his penlight photographs of male figures as representations of “the sexual electricity that we can feel along our skin when in proximity with someone we are attracted to.”

The radiant lines also illustrate the play of Lebe’s own hand and eye over the surface of the sitter’s body. A shirt glows in the background as if the lingering heat of its recent wearer were luminous. At left, a ghost of the photographer’s foot testifies to a shared bed. Angelo in Robe evokes intimacy while giving visual form to the photographer’s desire.