The Boys from Ipanema by Frank Waldecker

Brazil has been the focus of many fashion and photography projects recently. Mario Testino released his book MaRIO DE JANEIRO Testino a few months ago, celebrating the girls and boys of Rio. The new issue of Hercules magazine is dedicated to all things Brazil, with mouthwatering editorials like this and this.

The new book The Boys from Ipanema, however, is the Holy Grail for photography lovers seeking to appreciate the alluring beauty of the Brazilian male. Released earlier this month by Edition Skylight, the book presents this much-desired Brazilian man through the eyes of Frank Waldecker, a German photographer who lives in Rio de Janeiro four months of the year.

"Between 2001 and 2009, I photographed a wide variety of men in and around Rio. An attractive face, a seductive smile and natural manliness were important factors when choosing models," writes Frank Waldecker in the forward of the book. "I was chiefly attracted by the combination of natural sensuality with a kind of naïve playfulness very common among Brazilian men."

So what can you expect to see in the book? Waldecker explains in the forward, "In Rio people love to show off their bodies, and work hard to keep them in good shape. Full-frontal nudity is, however, taboo in Brazil. People there are well aware that a skimpily clad body stimulates the imagination better, and is far more erotic than total nudity. So, my job as a photographer was not to present the superficial beauty of a perfect, well-trained body, but far more to reveal the person behind the facade." He continues, "The result is a book with a very personal view of a people and their country, both of which I have learned to love very deeply."