A Boundary-Pushing Vision of the Male Form
Shaped by faith, geography, and personal liberation, Erick Monterrosa’s photography lives at the intersection of fashion, art, and queer expression. For Erick Monterrosa, photography wasn’t something he chased. It found him. Born in El Salvador, raised in Nicaragua, and now living in Spain, his work reflects a life lived across borders, belief systems, and identities. Each image carries the weight of that journey, fusing elegance with provocation in a way that feels both deliberate and deeply personal.
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What emerges is a body of work that challenges how masculinity is framed, photographed, and remembered, especially within queer visual culture.
From Faith to Freedom
Raised in a deeply religious household, Erick’s early life was steeped in church culture — an environment that left little room for questioning desire or identity. “I was very much a church kid — devoted to Jesus,” he recalls. “During my teenage years, I began exploring my sexuality through the world of gay adult media, collecting images as a secret hobby. Now, I photograph what was once forbidden to me.”
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That tension, between devotion and desire, still pulses through his work. His photography doesn’t reject his past so much as reclaim it, transforming repression into creative fuel.
Pop Culture as a Gateway
Like many artists of his generation, Erick’s visual education came as much from television as from textbooks. During the mid-2000s cultural dominance of America’s Next Top Model, he found himself drawn to image-making as a form of storytelling.
Influenced by photographers such as Steven Meisel, Steven Klein, and Paolo Roversi, Erick began experimenting after receiving his first digital camera in 2005. What started as imitation quickly evolved into something distinctly his own.
An Eclectic Visual Language
Erick describes his aesthetic as “eclectic, edgy, and over-the-top,” and the range within this collection proves it. Some images explode with color and energy; others are stripped down to stark black-and-white intimacy. “Some images are erotic and even flirt with vulgarity, but I always strive to add my own twist,” he explains.
Where Masculinity Becomes Fluid
That twist often comes through subtle femininity, a softness layered atop traditionally masculine forms, and a refusal to settle into a single visual lane. “I’m a complex individual full of contradictions, and my work reflects that,” he says. “I get bored easily, so I rarely stick to just one style when photographing men.”
Despite the variety, his meticulous approach to retouching creates a recognizable throughline. “If you know my work, you’ll recognize it instantly,” Erick adds. “I’m incredibly detail-oriented in this area and often spend hours retouching details that most people wouldn’t even notice—but I notice, so it has to be perfect.”
The Body as Subject and Story
When it comes to photographing the male form, Erick is candid about what draws his eye. “This question makes me blush,” he admits. “I have two weaknesses: dark bronze skin tones with a hint of sheen (wet skin) and well-defined glutes. So, any pose and lighting that highlights these features is definitely my kind of pose!”
But beyond physical detail, each image serves as a timestamp, like a record of who he was creatively in that moment. “They all do,” he says of his favorite images. “Each image represents a distinct period in time when I had a specific creative vision or taste.”
Art, Labels, and Modern Reality
Erick is refreshingly honest about the realities of sustaining a creative practice today. “I’ll admit it — honestly, my Patreon keeps me shooting these days,” he says. “The constant need to produce content and keep my supporters happy drives much of my output.”
Creating in the Age of Content
The pressure doesn’t diminish the meaning of the work; it reframes it. In a landscape where art, algorithms, and survival collide, Erick continues to create with intention, even when inspiration reveals itself later. “In fact, there are times when I uncover the meaning only during the retouching process,” he notes.
Rewriting the Rules
For Erick, distinctions between art and explicitness are beside the point. “The distinction doesn’t matter to me,” he says. “Whether something is considered pornography or not is entirely subjective, shaped by the viewer’s perspective.”
Honesty Through Artistry
What does matter is honesty to himself and to the stories his images tell. “I owe much of who I am today to my journey through photography,” Erick reflects. “Through my work, I’ve been exposed to experiences that have taught me there’s nothing wrong with embracing and celebrating our bodies while we have them.”
That philosophy anchors the collection, culminating in one image that continues to resonate with him: “a man on his knees, surrounded by crashing waves.”
Looking Forward
Erick’s earliest nude photographs — taken in December 2011 of his first boyfriend — marked a turning point, coinciding with his decision to leave an office job and fully commit to photography.
Today, his hope remains simple and expansive. “I want people to see my life story through my images,” he says. “I hope my journey inspires others to believe in their craft and keep creating, no matter where they come from or how many obstacles they face.”
Want to see the good stuff?
We’ve published more of Monterrosa’s work — including the shots too spicy for this site — over on our Substack.
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