I mentioned on Monday that I’d be writing later in the week about the Genuine Men” exhibit. Genuine Men is a photo documentary compiled by local artist (and my former English and history teacher) Nancy Bruno. Portions of it can be seen at thegenuinemen.com. The opening runs from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday at the Aubin Gallery at Clifton Park Center. Admission is free.

According to Bruno, the original idea for the photo documentary came from her 6-year-old son, after she completed the Beautiful Women Project . The Beautiful Women Project (thebeautifulwomenproject.org) was a collection of portraits of 35 diverse women, along with brief biographies of them. After opening in October 2006, it now travels the country raising money for various charities.

Bruno described her desire to do a similar project for men in an e-mail interview. “Growing up, my grandmother would always say, 'You can’t do for one and not for another.' This is something that has stayed with me my entire life, so it was too much of a coincidence when my then-6year-old son marched into my office as I was completing the Beautiful Women Project and proclaimed, 'Mommy, it isn’t fair that you did girls and you don’t do boys.' I knew that he was right.”

The exhibit opening Friday also features 35 portraits and biographies. Although these biographies are longer than those written for the Beautiful Women Project, “I think because they include details that they men felt were very important to include in their life stories,” explained Bruno.

Although there are obvious differences, the two documentaries have the same basic goal. Bruno stated, “Yet, in the end, the message is the same for both projects: What makes a good role model is the sum of an individual’s life experiences.”

Books of the photo documentary will be for sale that evening, and all proceeds will be donated to the YMCA Reach Out for Youth Campaign.

I’ve been looking forward to this exhibit since Bruno first mentioned it to me about a year ago. We spend a lot of time as a society discussing how the media portrays women, but very little time discussing how men are portrayed. Nancy’s exhibit will give us a place to start that conversation.

If you can’t make it Friday (perhaps you're off to Art Night), the exhibit will be open Saturday and Sunday from noon to 3 p.m.