Often described as a blog, an online magazine, a journal when examined further the description changes and it becomes a project,

an objective, a mission. American Male is one simple thing. It is a collection of different thoughts and experiences so come share

yours and be part of the narrative.

When American Male launched in 2012, Peter Zvonar was one of a handful of

photographers that allowed American Male to feature their collections. What I

remember most when I first viewed Peter’s collection back then is how colorful his

photographs were. It was as if you could feel the energy of that moment (although it

was capture in a photograph) it seemed to come alive and radiate from his collections.

That’s when I knew I wanted to feature his work as part of the Coffee Break Discussion

Series. The creativity and the passion that he brings to his work is absolutely amazing.

Over the years, I have had the pleasure of watching Peter grow as a person and

continue to grow as talented photographer. It’s amazing to see when someone can

stand unapologetic and bring their sense of self to their work.

By American Male Contributor B.W.

Q: Peter you described your latest collections as: “Life is about symbols.Religion. Sex. Power. Fetish. Playing. Money. Killing… I am a photographer and Ilike to work with these symbols.” Can you describe how these symbolsinfluenced your work?

Every human life is like a never-ending mosaic. We compose it from our birth and

thanks to the help of our parents, we learn how to feel individual objects and

understand situations and emotions. We are discovering what is good and bad in our

life and how in which to go about creating a balance. Symbols go along with us during

our lifetime. Nowadays superficiality is common and very few people are willing to

express their own point of views. It’s this lack of personal expression that sometimes

create a “deformed morality.”

Q: I have come to believe that establishing a connection with another personoften begins with the willingness to venture beyond the surface of your personaand slowly exposing yourself if you hope to solidify a relationship. I have readthat symbols are often our unconscious mind attempting to communicate to usfor the purpose of revealing parts of ourselves that we were not initially aware of.Assuming there is some truth in both statements what does the symbolsReligion. Sex. Power. Fetish. Playing. Money and Killing reveal about you?

The collection “The symbols” is mostly about sex, because, whether you like it or not,

sex is still the“unspoken” part of our lives. From sex we were born, sex give us amazing

delightful feelings, so sex influences us from birth until death. I’m not the typical

religious person, so I have my own faith but for so-called classical Christian I´m not a

religious person. However, with regard to sex and religion, if god didn’t want us to have

sex he wouldn’t have created this fantastic feeling which comes with each orgasm.

I selected symbols which are deeply and multi layered at least to me. Certainly I could

had chosen beautiful and noble symbols like love, friendship, desire, and family… but

this is not the my way, to draw the world only in pink colors. I’m naturally an optimist so

creatively exploring only beautiful and noble symbols in my photography is less

interesting☺.

All mentioned symbols are part of my life. They affected me in many ways, I am artist,

so a lot of these ideas I put into my pictures. In regard to what you wrote, symbols are

like periodic occurrence of our sub consciousness trying to communicate with us. Some

symbols reveal things about us, some of them are our apprehensions. If we would like

to be deprive from our fears, we have to be free, to act as a free individual.

Q: I once was told what becomes your passion in life is often the very thing thatcreates your sense of hope. If photography is your passion, what fuels yourpassion to be a photographer? Has following this passion made you morehopeful, if so how?

This is a really hard question and I’m not sure how to answer. I don’t know if it is just

passion for photography that gives me hope or it is on the contrary. I’m full of hope and

belief from my childhood. I remember times when adults would often lecture me and tell

me that my vision for myself is to big and I’m not living in the real world. However, all

my dreams I have always followed. I believed in my dreams. I believe in myself than,

and I believe still in the vision I have for myself now.

Q: Here is a quote from a journal entry submitted to the Random Thoughts onVarious Things Journal Series. “What ultimately determines my ability to moveforward in my life is based solely on the depths of my convictions, it is myconcept of “self,” that allows me to complete any task presented before me.”Peter I have come to believe that life sometimes forces us to believe insomething that can’t be seen or felt by others. Anyone that has attempted to

follow a dream especially in an industry (for example a career as a photographer)that offers such a small opportunity for success can attest to this. How do youcontinue to prepare yourself for this journey a journey that will ultimately testevery unique part of you?

I indicated it already in the previous answer. It is mostly belief in myself. It is the

conviction that all that we do is something good, something useful. For me it is not only

about the photos, it’s about connecting with the person that I’m photographing. My ideal

is to convey a story in every photography. For me it is important when photography is

breathing, when it is unique from other photographs. This process can become difficult

when I’m being pushed to take a photograph with which I haven’t quite identified with.

These are the moments when I know that this photography session will not have a

happy ending.

But this hasn’t only occurred in my creative ventures, it is happened in my life as well.

Once you are different, many people try to give you advice on how and what you have

to be and do. But they don’t understand my work, my life, or my story. It’s about who I

am and not who they want me to be.

Q: Peter your work has appeared on American Male several times sinceAmerican Male launched. It’s without question your work along with the works ofmany of the other photographers, film makers etc. has brought a uniqueness toAmerican Male that I could have never envision possible. Since appearing andhaving your work featured on American Male how has it influence your work asphotographer?

A: American Male was the first magazine (American Male is actually a blog ) which

noticed my photographs on Flickr, than came an offer for an interview with me featuring

my photographs. In that time, I’ve started to wise up that my photographs work, the way

I’m doing it, how I feel it, it´s not useless. This first interview with me, especially when it

was in a foreign medium, improved my Self-confidence

Q: Peter speaking of when our path first crossed, I have noticed over the last twoyears that you physically have changed. I remember reading your comments ontwitter and it seemed like you were always working out. Now in your latestphotographs not only are you modeling for your photographs but I see that youhave put on a lot of muscle mass. What motivated you to want to hit the gym?

Hahahaha I remember some of your comments regarding the gym. So this is my

opportunity to say thanks ☺. The truth is I’ve never been a sportsmen, but I always liked

that kind of nice muscular men. I was in a relationship prior where working out wasn’t

possible. Once that relationship ended I started running and I lost approximately 25

kilos (55 pounds). Suddenly I found I’m a pretty attractive boy. I must confess modesty

is not my dominating attribute ☺. About a year and a half ago I started working out. I

had trainer and learned all the basics ☺. When I started I could hardly bench press 20

kilos (50 pounds) now I can bench about 80 kilos (176 pounds) but I’m still not satisfied.

My motivation to continue is really strong for two reasons. First being, I like the way I

look now. The second is the huge interest that I have in the person who is now a part of

my life ☺ ☺ ☺.

Q: I have asked you this question before and I’m curious to see if your answerhas change since our first interview. If you only had five minutes to say what youhave learned thus far about life or about yourself what would that be? Whatlessons have you learned from either your successes or failures thus far that youwould pass down to the next generation?

I don’t remember what I answered to you at that time. What I have learned? Probably

that life is too short and beautiful so we have to live in truth not in lie. It would also

seem people have broken away from having discussions with one another and prefer to

spend more time talking about themselves and less time listening and connecting with

others. This lack of connection I have observed saddens me. I did a collection on this

topic called “Good Morning World.” What message do I have for the next generation?

Be free, don’t be afraid to present your opinions, and be sure you do what’s right and

correct for you. Whatever you do be sure to do it with love, joy and fairness, doing so

will help you to never lose your way ☺ :*

I wanted to end this interview by featuring some of Peter’s colorful photographs that

initially captured my attention.

In Peter’s 2012 collections, I continued to enjoy how he was able to capture the

different colors and shades light. Most importantly, I enjoyed how his photographs felt

alive.

Peter I want to once again take this opportunity to say thank you for your continued

support of American Male. Its been a pleasure having the opportunity to work with you

over the years. Thank you for your willingness to allow your work to appear on

American Male but most importantly I have enjoyed your friendship.

Wait one last thing, I wanted to share some of your selfies from over the years.