you get the picture?

Deconstructing Masculinity is a photographic project conceptualised by photographer Iryna Martin, stylist Simoné Esterhuizen and videographer Kelsie Joos that investigates contemporary masculinity as a fluid, evolving construct rather than a fixed or singular identity. Instead of presenting masculinity as stable or universal, the work considers how it is continually shaped, challenged, and redefined through social expectations, personal experience, and shifting cultural narratives.

Through images of the male body in motion, the project explores the tension between rigidity and transformation, dominance and vulnerability. Gestures, posture, and moments of physical interaction become visual cues that reveal the complexity of masculine performance. By emphasizing movement and emotional exposure, the photographs suggest that masculinity is not inherent or static, but something enacted, negotiated, and often unsettled.

Ultimately, the project, which is a production of the MA of Arts in Photography LABA Valencia @ School of Art, Design & New Media, frames masculinity as a performative and unstable process — one influenced by both external pressures and internal conflict — highlighting the ways individuals navigate, resist, and reinterpret traditional masculine norms.

jacket + trousers. Álvaro Calafat
shirt. Carlotta Barrera
shoes. Hoka
ties. Stylist’s Own

jacket. Álvaro Calafat
shirt. Carlotta Barrera
ties. Stylist’s Own

jacket. Álvaro Calafat
necklace. All Blues

left to right
Fran wears
jacket + trousers. Álvaro Calafat
shirt. Carlotta Barrera
shoes. Hoka
Andrei wears
jacket + trousers. Álvaro Calafat
shoes. Hoka

left to right
Andrei wears
jacket. Álvaro Calafat
necklace. All Blues
Fran wears
jacket. Álvaro Calafat
opposite
left to right
Andrei wears
jacket + trousers. Álvaro Calafat
bracelet + ring. Stylist’s Own
Fran wears
jacket. Álvaro Calafat
shirt. Carlotta Barrera

left to right
Fran wears
jacket. Pablo Erroz
trousers. Álvaro Calafat
shirt. Carlotta Barrera
Andrei wears
jacket. Pablo Erroz
trousers. Álvaro Calafat
necklace. All Blues

blazers. Stylist’s Own
trousers. Álvaro Calafat
shoes. Hoka
opposite
jacket + shawl. Álvaro Calafat
ring + bracelet. Stylist’s Own

jacket + shawl. Álvaro Calafat
ring + bracelet. Stylist’s Own

left to right
Fran wears
jacket. RAISED BY DOUBT @ AFLAME Group
trousers. Versace
shoes. Birkenstock
gloves. Dolce & Gabbana
Andrei wears
trousers. Álvaro Calafat

left to right
Fran wears
coat. Pablo Erroz
Andrei wears
sweater. Aitor Goikoetxea
trousers. Lemache

Fran wears
shirt. Carlotta Barrera
tie. Hugo Boss

boxers. Emidio Tucci

boxers. Emidio Tucci

leggings. Aitor Goikoetxea
opposite
leggings. Aitor Goikoetxea

leggings. Aitor Goikoetxea

photography. Iryna Martin
art direction + fashion. Simoné Esterhuizen
talent. Fran Mena + Andrei Chiper @ Carmen Duran
hair + make up. Anna Belyaeva
concept. Iryna Martin, Simoné Esterhuizen + Kelsie Joos
production + videography. Kelsie Joos
production. A production of the MA of Arts in Photography LABA Valencia @ School of Art, Design & New Media
teachers. art Súper Fuerte
fashion coordination. Odile Itrraspe Garland + the Master’s programme direction
lighting assistants. Nikolas Antonopoulos + Andrea Soria Prediger
special thanks. Pedro + Angel @ Espai Center

dress. L’Amour Brut
shoes. Vaquera x Converse

Julia Wolf is an artist of many faces. There’s the angsty lyricist who so candidly puts her deepest thoughts into song, there’s her inner child from Long Island, New York, hooked by Twilight and pensive walks in the woods, and then there’s the woman who sits in front of us in her dressing room, hours before opening up for MGK at the Adidas Arena in Paris. “Seeing the crowd’s response every night has been so encouraging and welcoming, especially as an opener. You don’t always know what you’re getting into,” says Wolf.

Wolf is warm and inviting with a personable charm. She’s been on tour mode for the past six months and gushes about the gothic architecture and pierogies that welcomed her in Poland. Before her Paris show, she uses her set list to scribble down notes on how to say her show intro in French. It’s clear that behind the art, Wolf is truly just a girl with big dreams that are coming to life. 

look. Azura Archive
right.
necklace. Disturbia
top. Topshop
shorts. Sarah Garfield
shoes. Vaquera x Converse

Onstage, Wolf’s vocals are as hauntingly captivating as on her studio records. She ends her set with hit track ‘In My Room’ which perfectly embodies Wolf’s unapologetic embrace of  vulnerability. “I’m just saying crazy stuff that [people] resonate with that we tend to maybe keep to ourselves,” she shares. “I always say that I don’t have an imagination because if I try to make something up or put myself in a scenario I haven’t lived, it’s very obvious that I’m speaking from my head so that’s why I tend to just write what I know,” she adds. “I feel like, I stalk myself on the internet to see what you’ll find, is just the epitome of me and it explains how my brain works.”

dress + boa. Eleanor Bathgate
rings. Julia’s own
right.
dress. L’Amour Brut
shoes. Vaquera x Converse

Wolf puts no limit on her musical identity. As a result, the artist has a diverse discography that pulls from emo pop, metal and trap-R&B. “I start getting antsy when I get labelled as only one thing because I feel like I do love so many genres that why not just tap into them when I can?,” she says. Her ability to effortlessly navigate between genres has led to collabs with the likes of Drake, MGK and more recently jumping on a dance music track. “As long as someone is cool and I like what they’re doing, I’m always going to be down to do the collab,” she adds, naming Phoebe Bridgers as her number one dream collaborator. 

On her ascent, Wolf is already ticking off goals that only existed in her childhood dreams, like playing intimate live shows at Bella Swan’s home from Twilight, a movie that carries the same air of nostalgia as Wolf’s music. “I was in 8th grade when it first came out. All of high school was such a struggle with friendships and self-hatred and all of the things. Then I found a character, Bella Swan, who’s kind of going through those same insecurities and self-doubt,” she says about her love for the film. “Seeing how she went through high school feeling the same way, it’s just my comfort.”

jacket. Gwendoline English
top. Topshop
shorts. Sarah Garfield
tights. Falke
right.
dress + boa. Eleanor Bathgate
rings. Julia’s own

Wolf feels very at home in the world of all things spooky, it’s an interest she credits to her mum. “I’ve always kind of gravitated towards the dark, gloomy, weird creatures of the night,” she says. “Since I was in the womb, she was always playing that stuff on the TV. My first crush was like Jack Skellington. It’s one of those things where I just grew up with it and it’s my comfort now.” Similarly, the world Wolf has created through her music is one of solace and familiarity. In being unafraid of the shadows of herself, Wolf sheds light on the tender nuances of being human.  

jacket. Azura Archive
ring. Julia’s own

This Schön! online exclusive has been produced by

photography. Matt Moorhouse
fashion. Brittany Newman
talent. Julia Wolf
makeup. Maya Man @ Stella Creative Artists using Anastasia Beverley Hills
hair. Michela Olivieri @ Caren Agency using Fenty Hair
photography assistant. Ben Renshaw
retouch. Lex O’Neill
production. Clara La Rosa
casting + words. Shama Nasinde
location. Aethos London Shoreditch
Special thanks to FORWARD Agency

jacket. Dolce & Gabbana

“WHITE SPARROW” is a visual meditation on exclusion rather than appearance. The white sparrow is not a stable or well-defined category; it exists as a deviation, akin to a glitch in the system. Because of this, it often appears in culture as a symbol of disruption or a shift in the usual order. Throughout the shoot, the image of the bird emerges in fragments — through feathers, accessories, bodily gestures, and locations where birds typically occupy the edges of human environments. These references do not depict the bird directly; instead, they suggest its presence, as if something were quietly observing.

The scene with six sparrows inside the refrigerator is deliberately impossible — an unlikely convergence. It represents a community of rare individuals inhabiting a closed, confined space where their uniqueness endures not because of the environment, but despite it. The editorial reflects on what it means to be different without romanticizing that difference. It centers on the body as a site of vulnerability and on the figure of the “stranger,” someone who does not oppose their surroundings but must learn to survive within them.

shirt. Stylist’s Own

trench coat. Lemaire
opposite
cropped coat. MM6 Maison Margiela

trench coat. Lemaire
suit. Jil Sander
hat. Polo Ralph Lauren
opposite
t-shirt. Jil Sander
jeans. Acne Studios
shoes. Prada

underwear. Ludovic de Saint Sernin
opposite
jeans. Acne Studios
shoes. Prada

trench coat. Lemaire
suit. Jil Sander
shoes. Prada

shirt. Stylist’s Own

photography + cg artist. Arthur Iskandarov
fashion. Alex Klop
model. Michael @ X Management
production. Jenya Garmel
assistant. Anna