Lap of Luxury Hardcover – Illustrated, 1 Nov. 2015

Mark Henderson's style is unmistakeable but not easy to categorise. His models are varied in physique and appearance, portrayed in different settings, which somehow make even the ordinary seem exotic, and in very different poses and states of arousal. Back in the '70s, Tom of Finland managed, through a combination of artistic skill and outrageously sexy glorification of what it is to be gay, to create a whole new perception of masculinity and thus to make gay men feel proud of who they were. Mark Henderson does something similar for the present day. These men are not all beautiful but they are all characterful, not showing off their bodies pornographically or exaggeratedly, but certainly doing so erotically and assertively: "this is who I am and my sexuality is a part of me that I am confidently at ease with". This is a book which may well fuel fantasies but it does so with its feet planted in reality. If I wanted to show someone -albeit someone not easily shocked by the male body in all its glory - what it means to be gay, then this book would be a significant exhibit.