Hold Me Tight by Allison Plass, begun in 2017 and continuing into 2022, traces moments of intimacy and vulnerability between her husband and two teenage sons, often captured during family vacations in nature. Based in New York City, Plass uses the project to reflect on evolving notions of masculinity within contemporary American culture.
Against the backdrop of growing awareness around gender fluidity and the emotional lives of boys and men, Hold Me Tight interrogates cultural expectations of male behavior. Plass challenges dominant narratives that equate boyhood with competitiveness and action, instead documenting softness, emotional expression, and familial tenderness. By placing her work in what she calls a "traditionally homophobic American landscape," she questions which forms of male closeness are visible, acceptable, or omitted in public discourse.
Drawing from her background as an art historian with a focus on gender and representation in European art, Plass frames her family through a lens informed by classical painting and sculpture. Poses echo mythological archetypes such as Odysseus or Achilles, suggesting a lineage of emotional complexity often denied to male figures in contemporary imagery. The photographs, mostly in saturated color and natural light, present her subjects in sculptural compositions: an arm lock, a tear, a moment of surrender, or a shared gaze frozen into what she calls a "distilled" scene. Her digital photographs, composed in a 4:5 aspect ratio, elevate casual familial interactions to something that feels both personal and archetypal.
With the Kuala Lumpur International Photoawards First Prize (2023) added to PX3 Gold (2022/2023) and ND Awards First Place (2022), plus a LensCulture Portrait finalist nod (2023), the project’s standing is supported by juried exhibitions and broad editorial coverage.
