It wasn't until Dianora Niccolini met the famed photographer Weegee that she thought seriously about taking up photography herself.
"I met Weegee in the early '60s in the West Village and we immediately struck up a friendship that lasted for several years. I was new to the business and had just landed my second job in medical photography (which was not my first love!) Weegee was sexually interested in me and I, of course, found him sexually revolting. But I loved his experimental works. So, I conspired to learn his secrets and he conspired to get me into bed. We both failed!"
Since Niccolini began exhibiting her work in the '70s, she's been hailed as the female pioneer of the male nude. She says her nude images of men pre-dated Mapplethorpe's work on the same subject by several years.
In addition to her own published books, "Women of Vision" and "Men in Focus", Niccolini's work has appeared in many anthologies and has been reviewed by the
New York Times,
American Photography,
Modern Photography, and dozens of other literary sources. (For a full listing, visit her website:
members.aol.com/dianoran/.) Currently, Niccolini's work is featured in two anthologies: "The Male Nude" (1998 Taschen) and "Men in the Sun" (Universe/Rizzoli 1999), both books by David Leddick.
Niccolini, who grew up in Florence, Italy and came to the U.S. when she was 9 years old, attributes her love of art to her early beginnings in the city of Michelangelo's David. As she remembers, "The city streets were filled with nude statues of men, so when I began to do fine art photography and exhibit my work, I was astounded that the male nude was taboo here in New York City. This was like waving a red flag in front of a bull. I became determined to break the taboo."
And so she did, launching a long career as a photographer of beautiful men in their prime.