No journey for true love would be complete without live commentary (in 140 characters) from Bachelor Nation’s most opinionated members. Below are 29 tweets that just *~nailed~* it:

For more on “The Bachelorette” finale and “After The Final Rose,” check out HuffPost’s Here To Make Friends podcast below:

Do people love “The Bachelor,” “The Bachelorette” and “Bachelor in Paradise,” or do they love to hate these shows? It’s unclear. But here at “Here to Make Friends,” we both love and love to hate them — and we love to snarkily dissect each episode in vivid detail. Podcast edited by Nick Offenberg

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A man who rolls joints for a living is proving the old adage of “do what you love and the money will follow.”

Tony Greenhand, 26, of Albany, Oregon, told Vocativ he’s “considered one of the best joint-rollers in the world.” His biggest order yet was for $7,000 to make a set of small joints that looked like weapons, including a fully smokeable AK-47 spliff he made from rolling papers and a half-pound of weed.

“I basically jump out of bed and start rolling joints,” he told Vocativ.

But Greenhand didn’t come out of the womb a Monet of marijuana. His first joint, which he rolled as a teen while growing up in rural Washington state, was hideously deformed thanks to too much saliva on the rolling papers. 

“I was essentially, at my core, humiliated,” he said. “I bounced back though.”

Greenhand shares some of his best work on Instagram ― including an awesome Pikachu joint.

He sees a bright green future for his artistic endeavors, which include a dream of making a joint showing Mike Tyson eating an avocado.

“Maybe I want to make a 10-pound joint next, OK? Or maybe I’ll make one that weighs 15 pounds,” he said. “It’s going to get smoked either way. And I bet I can smoke it faster than you can find out about it.”

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In a scene that’s likely to look familiar to anyone who’s been in love, cherry-red lips brush up against close-cropped hair and a stubble-covered face nestles against a smooth neck in an intimate exchange of words and kisses.

It’s a portrait of a couple taken by Wanda Martin, a photographer whose series, “Lovers,” aims to take a close-up look at romantic exchanges, illustrating that they have some beautiful, base qualities that transcend gender, age and race.

“Initially my motivation was to investigate myself,” Martin said in an email to The Huffington Post. But the series expanded to include portraits of her coupled friends, staged as naturally as possible in their own bedrooms.

“Since my original motivation was completely personal, it made more sense to photograph couples close to my age, friends and other people I know who can act natural in front of my camera for a more genuine result,” Martin said.

She hopes, however, to eventually expand her project to include a broader spectrum of ages and races, further showing the boundlessness of romantic connection. For now, though, Martin says her aim was to “explore the nature of sexual fluidity and show the similarity between different kinds of (heterosexual and homosexual) relationships.”

She continued, “Obviously, I don’t think my project in itself can change the world, but I honestly think that if more photographers and artists would focus on the subjects of contemporary LGBT culture and gender politics it would have a huge influence over the acceptance of these themes in society. We naively think we live in a free world of equality, but then these things like what happened in Orlando still happen. It’s just shocking.”

Instead of dwelling on differences, Martin uses her portraits to celebrate the similarities we all share. That the couples she photographs seem not to have borders between them ― their arms tangle around each other’s waists, and their hair converges into a single, flowing stream ― further emphasizes her theme of togetherness and humanity. 

“I just hope when people see my project they are not even focusing on the fact anymore that they are looking at a boy-boy, boy-girl or girl-girl couple,” Martin said. “Because it should be just so accepted and natural and they can see only the beauty of love of all kinds.”

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Justin Willman has no time for “bathroom bill” controversies. 

In the above two minute video, the Los Angeles-based magician uses peanut butter and jelly to effectively smash the arguments made by those who support laws like North Carolina’s House Bill 2, which prohibit trans people from using restrooms that correspond with their gender identity.

Willman, who hosts the Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars” and “Win, Lose or Draw” on the Disney Channel, humorously explains that even if a jelly jar is filled with peanut butter, it’s still peanut butter even if the label on the outside of the jar doesn’t match the contents inside. 

“If it’s got peanut butter in it we should just show it some God-damned respect and call it peanut butter because it didn’t choose the jar,” he quips. “I know this seems so simple, but there are some f**king idiots out there who just can’t comprehend this. If it’s peanut butter, let it pee with peanut butter. And if it’s jelly, let it pee with jelly!”

Amazing how simple it seems, yes? 

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Karina was standing with friends outside her Aurora, Colorado, high school when she was shot. The unintended victim of a drive-by shooting, Karina had to become a wheelchair user at 16 years old. 

Stories like Karina’s are as horrific as they are commonplace. Homes, schools, movie theaters, nightclubs, religious centers, small businesses and city streets — there are virtually no places on American soil safe from the possibility of gun violence. 

Photographer Kathy Shorr was held up at gunpoint, alongside her young daughter, during a home invasion. As Shorr wrote in an email to The Huffington Post, the experience revealed “what it felt like to have someone have the power to control your destiny and possibly the destiny of someone you loved.” 

Thankfully, neither Shorr nor her daughter were physically hurt during the robbery. However, the trauma left deep scars. “The emotional impact of a gun pointed at you is a feeling that stays with you,” she said.

The event inspired Shorr to think critically about the growing epidemic of gun violence in America, as well as the way the issue is confronted and discussed. “Gun violence had become an issue that had no gray; it was only black and white,” Shorr said. Talking about guns was always a debate leading nowhere, a screaming match where no one was listening. Where was the conversation, the dialogue, the storytelling? 

So Shorr resolved to photograph victims of gun violence throughout the United States. Specifically, she was interested in the many, often nameless individuals who survived. “We always heard about those who died but never about what happened to those who lived,” Shorr explained. “It seemed as if they were to just pick up the physical and emotional pieces and just go on with their lives.  I felt it would be important to show them and to hear what they had to say.”

Since 2013, Shorr has travelled the country documenting those whose lives have been forever altered by the power of a gun ― people of all ages, ethnicities, genders, walks of life. One woman was shot in her home by her husband of 41 years, another was shot accidentally by a police officer in the streets of Manhattan. One man was shot by his car mechanic for refusing to pay a bill, while an 8-year-old girl was shot at school after her classmate brought a gun to school. 

The series, titled “Shot,” clearly communicates the complexity and ambiguity of gun violence’s presence. Any preconceived notion of a “typical” shooter or victim are quickly proved inadequate and out of date. “The idea is to have images of people that anybody can look at and identify with,” Shorr told Slate. “These are situations anyone can empathize with.”

Over the course of two and a half years, the photographer travelled 100,000 miles, documenting a diverse and powerful range of American heroes. Shorr made sure to have all ages and ethnicities represented, and funded the entire cross-country project herself. She’s now raising funds on Kickstarter to compile her images into a book, including portraits of 101 shooting victims, ages 8 to 80.

Shorr meets each of her subjects on the day of the shoot, getting to know each other for around half an hour before taking the photo. The individuals share their stories, which Shorr summarizes in captions alongside the images. Some reveal physical scars before the camera, while others communicate their pain through their facial expressions. The range of individuals affected by gun violence, many of whom were struck by chance, is staggering. 

In a debate that is so often thrust into categories of left and right, progressive and conservative, anti- and pro-guns, Shorr hopes to use the power of images to find a middle ground, one every human can empathize with. “’Shot’ is not meant to be divisive; many gun owners and an NRA member are featured in the project,” she said. “All Americans are affected by gun violence and we all have to talk about responsible gun laws. ‘Shot’ has never been about extremes ― responsible gun owners are the people who will be the ones that change the rules. After all, most gun owners do want responsible gun laws.”

On Aug. 2 alone, there were 19 reported incidents of gun violence in the United States. Twenty people lost their lives; three survived. Schorr’s images depict people like them, whose stories often go untold, who are asked to return to their normal lives after experiencing a trauma at once harrowing and, increasingly, banal.

See the faces of lesser-known victims of gun violence below and learn their stories:

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Watching athletes perform super-human feats in the name of patriotism is fun. But also, Team U.S.A is like, really, really ridiculously good looking.

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Photographer and mom of three Megan Soto has spent three years taking pictures of nursing moms for the Public Breastfeeding Awareness Project. But she only recently discovered an important part of normalizing breastfeeding: dads. 

“I was going through my images from the project with my husband last year ― trying to figure out which ones to share when he pointed out that none of the images had any men in them,” Soto told The Huffington Post. “Sadly it didn’t cross my mind until he mentioned it, but I knew instantly he was right and dads needed to be included in the images going forward.”

Soto’s latest photo series showcases supportive dads in public alongside their breastfeeding partners. Each image comes with a caption about breastfeeding from the featured dad.

“A lot of people point to men being exposed to breasts as their go-to when arguing against why mothers shouldn’t breastfeed openly in public,” the photographer explained. “I hope that by focusing on the dads and sharing their thoughts, it educates those individuals that men are more than capable of seeing a mother care for her child via her breast.”

Soto believes it’s important for dads to take an active role in supporting their breastfeeding partners. “Breastfeeding mothers face a number of obstacles as it is ― supply issues, latch issues, cracked nipples, pumping issues and the list goes on,” she said. “The odds can be stacked against us as breastfeeding mothers and adding in a spouse who isn’t supportive can be detrimental to a breastfeeding relationship. Men encouraging their partners in breastfeeding ― both in the home and in public ― is a huge piece in the breastfeeding puzzle.”

“That’s not to say that women can’t successfully breastfeed without their partner’s support,” she added. “But it certainly poses unwelcome challenges when both parents are not on the same page.”

The photo shoot experience was very eye-opening for some of the dads, who had never seen the stares and pointing that breastfeeding moms often face while nursing in public.

Soto hopes her series will foster more awareness about breastfeeding among men, while also empowering moms ― something she wishes she’d had back when she was nursing her first child and feeling very lost.

“I hope that my images are able to reach mothers who, like me, don’t have experience with nursing,” she said. “I hope they encourage them in their journey and assure them that they are not alone.”

Keep scrolling to see more of Soto’s photos of dads supporting breastfeeding mamas and their thoughts on the experience.

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During the premiere of season 3 of “Bachelor In Paradise,” the show’s hyper-masculine, misogynistic id ― also known as Chad Johnson ― got called out from within. We rarely see truly feminist moments in the “Bachelor” franchise, but last night’s episode gave us a shero in “BIP” cast member Sarah Herron.

After witnessing Chad call fellow cast member Lace Morris a “f****** b**ch” and a “c***,” Sarah (with a solid assist from Carly Waddell) had heard enough. Instead of staying silent, she spoke up and called out his sexist, garbage behavior. 

“The way you’re talking about women is so disrespectful,” she says to Chad. “I want nothing to do with it. Nothing,” as Carly claps in approval nearby. 

“That’s hilarious,” says Chad. “No, it’s not hilarious. It’s really not,” Sarah shoots back. (Watch a clip of the scene below.)

Of course, instead of responding contritely or taking even a shred of responsibility for his earlier language, Chad lashes out.

In what was one of the more disturbing scenes in of the episode, Chad verbally attacks Sarah. He calls the 29-year-old, who recently launched a non-profit aimed at empowering girls (specifically young girls with physical disabilities), a “one-armed b***h,” before telling her to “suck that d**k.”

“Gross” doesn’t even begin to sum up the interaction.

The next morning, in the (more sober) light of day, Chad again fails to take responsibility for his actions.

“I think you were incredibly disrespectful last night,” says Sarah. “And you said really horrible things to Lace and about women and to me.”

His response? “It’s joking. It’s jokes. Why can’t y’all take jokes?”

It should go without saying that physically and verbally attacking the people around you is not OK. But there’s an extra layer of foul when even after being presented with your actions ― and the hurt they have caused ― you refuse to own up, instead placing the blame back on to those you’ve harmed. (It feels questionable for ABC to have even placed such a volatile person into a setting like “BIP,” but that’s a conversation for another time.) 

“Bachelor” alums rallied around Sarah on Twitter last night as the episode aired:

And though Chad has since (sort of, kind of) apologized (in the press), it seems that Sarah ― along with the vast majority of “Bachelor” fans ― is just ready to move on from him:

In the hallowed words of Beyoncé: “Boy, bye.”

For more on the “Bachelor In Paradise” premiere, check out HuffPost’s Here To Make Friends podcast below:

Do people love “The Bachelor,” “The Bachelorette” and “Bachelor in Paradise,” or do they love to hate these shows? It’s unclear. But here at “Here to Make Friends,” we both love and love to hate them — and we love to snarkily dissect each episode in vivid detail. Podcast edited by Nick Offenberg

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Muslim Americans have served in the U.S. Armed Forces since the days of George Washington. They have fought and died alongside Americans of all religions, races and creeds, yet Islamophobes like Donald Trump continue to question their patriotism.

It’s high time America heard their stories.

An upcoming documentary, titled “Muslim Military Stories,” highlights Muslim Americans who have served in the military in the years since September 11, 2001. Director David Washburn combined two interests he had previously worked on ― veterans and Muslim Americans ― to capture this unique subset of the Armed Forces.

“The thinking was that Muslim American veterans and service members occupy a really powerful space and can speak to issues ― like shared sacrifice, discrimination, religious freedom ― in ways non-Muslims will really tune in to,” Washburn told The Huffington Post.

Case in point, he said, is the Khans’ story, which has dominated much of American news media over the last week since Khizr Khan’s powerful DNC speech about his son, Humayun, and Donald Trump’s unflattering response.

“Through [Muslim veterans’] stories, we witness how the altruistic values we hold are starkly contrasted with the dark tones and fear that others speak of, like Trump,” Washburn said. “The two come together and make such a clear choice, that it can’t be ignored.”

“So with this project,” he added, “I aim to amplify the voices of Muslim Americans vets and service members, so we meet more characters like the Khans.”

Nearly 6,000 Muslims currently serve in the U.S. military, according to the Department of Defense. That number could be much higher, though, taking into account the 400,000 service members who have not reported their faith.

Muslim troops have cause to be wary of coming forward about their faith. The country has witnessed an increasing culture of Islamophobia, spurred on by public figures like Trump who have helped push the needle on mainstream anti-Muslim sentiment.

In November, Trump suggested that Muslims should be registered in a database and carry special identification cards. He has also called for a “complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the United States.

Sadly, more than half of Americans share Trump’s negative view of Islam. “Muslim Military Stories” aims to aptly address the question: “How can we ask Muslim Americans to fight for freedom abroad while their rights are abused at home?”

Many Republicans and service members denounced Trump’s response to the Khan family and praised the sacrifice of Humayun, who was killed while serving in the Army in Iraq ― but day to day life for Muslims in the military is still complicated.

The military prohibits troops from sporting facial hair (except on a case by case basis) which many Muslim men do to honor the Prophet Muhammad. Then there’s the difficulty of finding halal food in military facilities, and the fact that, according to The New York Times, only five out of roughly 2,900 Army chaplains are imams.

For Tian Soepangat, a Muslim Navy veteran featured in a clip on the “Muslim Military Stories” website, the uncertainty over how his faith would be received led him to hide it from his fellow sailors for years.

“I didn’t want them to treat me any different than how they would treat anyone else,” Soepangat says in the clip. Watch his story below:

Washburn aims to complete the feature documentary by late 2017, he said, and will be releasing more short clips on the website in the coming months. The director added that, in addition to wide release in the U.S., he hopes to screen the documentary in Muslim-majority countries, “so audiences can hear from Muslim American veterans that we are not at war with Islam,” he said.

The stories of Muslim American veterans and service members could be a powerful antidote to bigotry at home, as well.

Craig Considine, a sociologist and researcher of Islam, says that spreading awareness of Muslim Americans’ contributions to the Armed Forces may help diminish anti-Muslim attitudes and put the brakes on the mainstreaming of Islamophobia.

“If more people knew about the history of Muslims who have served in the U.S. military, perhaps non-Muslim Americans would have more respect and appreciation for Islam and their fellow Muslim citizens,” Considine wrote in a HuffPost blog last year.

After all, he noted, nothing is “more unpatriotic” than “dishonoring soldiers who have fought and died for their country.”

Watch a clip from “Muslim Military Stories” above.

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This article originally appeared on artnet News.

Artiquette is a series that explores etiquette in the art world.

Thanks to digital photography and smart phones, pretty much anyone has a camera in their pocket, allowing all of us to document our lives in near-real time on social media.

A big part of crafting one’s image is the selfie, and, for art lovers, there is no better variety than the art selfie. As perfected by Jay Z and Beyonce, the art selfie features photogenic works of art alongside the photographer’s smiling mug.

It’s not as straightforward as it seems, however, as not all art selfies are created equal. While some exhibitions seem to be created with Instagram in mind, others don’t quite translate into photographs.

Luckily, artnet News has you covered with this helpful guide on mastering the art of the art selfie.

1. Set the stage.

Fashion blogger Pari Ehsan has amassed 200,000 Instagram followers for her stunningly-composed photos, in which she poses with artwork dressed in complementary or matching attire. “The vision is to create a dialogue with the art, to add my own interpretive layer and cause someone to pause and look deeper into the image,” she explained to artnet News in an email.

For a truly striking art selfie, it pays to plan ahead. Your clothes, hair, and make-up can take your art selfie to the next level.

2. The best art selfie is worth traveling for.

In our increasingly global art world, it seems like there’s a new art destination to visit every week. For those of us who don’t live the jet set life, there’s nothing like living vicariously through the international art selfies of others, whether they’re at Christo’s “Floating Piers” or Art Basel in Basel.

“I’m fresh back from Marfa/Robert Irwin’s new installation at the Chinati Foundation, and the pilgrimage is more than worth it,” said Ehsan, who sees her art travel photos as “all about sharing the experiences that are meaningful to you, and compelling others to have their own in-person experience.”

3. Safety first.

This should go without saying, but don’t be stupid. Even the coolest art selfie isn’t worth your life, so don’t go scaling, say, Rio’s “Christ the Redeemer” on a whim.

Poorly-executed selfies also have been known to damage artworks. Please, don’t be that guy that smashes a statues or gets trapped in a giant marble vagina in the quest for the perfect photo op.

4. Reflective surfaces are your friend.

The art selfie lover has never met a shiny, reflective sculpture they didn’t appreciate. As the slightly less-tacky cousin of the bathroom mirror, the mirrored art selfie is a staple of every art fair. Jeff Koons is loving the trend.

5. Look at the overall picture.

Make sure to consider the angle and how far away you are from the piece before striking a pose. Patience is also key, to ensure there’s no one walking by to ruin your perfect shot.

“My advice to the novice is never upstage the art, its about balance, line, form and overall composition,” said Ehsan. “I’m constantly asking myself questions as I’m seeing art, why do I like this, what about it do I love. This informs the elements that I draw out in my pairings, ideas and visuals I want to explore.”

Composition is crucial, and can be the difference between an average photo and a truly memorable art selfie.

6. Keep it classy. 

Artwork elevates the art selfie above your average selfie, but a “cool” painting or sculpture only goes so far toward respectability. One wrong step, be it your caption, hashtags, or facial expression, and you can quickly veer into offensive territory.

“Respect the art, don’t embarrass yourself or make the artist (if dead) turn in their grave,” warned Ehsan.

7. Beware the selfie stick.

Yes, the selfie stick can help extend your reach and is key for taking selfies of large groups, but museums are increasingly banning them. (They are admittedly disruptive to other patrons, and can lead to accidents or damage to artworks if carelessly waved around.)

Let’s face it: Even in the best of times, you look silly taking a selfie. The selfie-stick only draws more attention to yourself (although to be fair, for some selfie takers perhaps that is the goal).

8. Don’t take yourself too seriously.

You’re taking a selfie. Have some fun with it.

9. Bigger is (usually) better.

Some art selfies are guaranteed to be hits, at blockbuster exhibitions likeYayoi Kusama‘s “Infinity Room.” Everyone may be doing it, but that doesn’t mean you don’t want your own picture with Jeff Koon’s “Split Rocker.”

Nevertheless, don’t underestimate the appeal of the unexpected. “Something I am really struck by is when an person finds a little-known or overlooked piece in an exhibition and uses their platform to spotlight it,”Job Piston, a photographer and Performa‘s special projects and communications associate, told artnet News in an email. “Making a picture is similar to using your finger to point at something and say ‘Look at this. Really LOOK at it.’”

For Ehsan, the process of selecting an artwork to shoot is “very intuitive. I choose the works or installations that speak to me.”

10. Respect the power of the filter.

A good filter can make or break a successful art filter. Go beyond Valencia and Lo-Fi and experiment with the other tools to improve color, contrast, and saturation. Or, if you’re really serious, invest in real photo-editing software to truly up your game.

11. It’s not all about you.

Let your friends in on the selfie fun. Everyone loves a good group selfie, and taking one with an awesome work of art should be a #squadgoal.

12. Don’t forget the caption. 

Tell people what they’re looking at, and credit the artist and the institution. Not only is this good manners, it will also help give your art selfie additional exposure. “Keep it real and succinct with the hashtags, artist, work, location and the people that helped bring the image into the realization,” said Ehsan.

13. Sometimes, the best art selfies aren’t selfies at all.

Looking through my Instagram, I realize there are plenty of photos of me with art, and plenty of selfies, but not a ton of overlap between the two categories. It’s not an easy task to take a flattering photo of yourself that also shows off a work of art to its best advantage.

“The selfie has evolved into going with friend to an exhibition whose judgement you trust to take your photo,” said Piston, pointing out that you still make the photo your own by choosing where to shoot, how to crop the image, and handling the post-production, captioning, and tagging.

Picking the right image after a long day at an art fair or museum is also key. “I usually choose 2 or 3 out of 150–200 images,” said Ehsan.

Even if you’re shooting far less, don’t be afraid to let a friend (or an indulgent stranger) do the honors. More often than not, the photo will be the better for it, and, as Piston declared, “it’s the natural evolution of selfie 2.0.”

14. Let the art speak for itself.

Not every work of art is destined for selfie stardom. Believe it or not, many artists created their works without you in mind, so there’s a decent chance your followers will enjoy looking at it even if you’re not in frame. When in doubt, turn your camera back around and live to selfie another day.

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From “American Psycho” to “The Dallas Buyers Club,” Jared Leto has received great acclaim for his unconventional taste in movie roles. Unfortunately, the Oscar winner doesn’t think an openly gay actor would have the same opportunity to take those chances. 

Leto, 44, told GQ Style that he still thinks an actor’s sexuality directly impacts his or her chances of Hollywood success, even though he wishes it were different. 

“I definitely don’t think a gay leading man would have the same opportunities as a straight leading man,” he said. “I don’t know if that’s offensive or not, but that’s my thought right now. It shouldn’t be that way.”

The “Suicide Squad” star went on to note that he believed that an openly gay actor’s opportunities in Hollywood are about the same as they are for any other minority group. 

“I think that this is still a very conservative business,” he told GQ Style. 

Leto has been more open to exploring sexuality and gender identity on the big screen when compared to many of his contemporaries. His turn as Rayon, a transgender woman, in “The Dallas Buyers Club” won him a 2014 Academy Award, even if some trans activists and critics were incensed by the portrayal. 

Noting that he “never had a specific idea of masculinity,” Leto said, “We’re in an interesting time right now where people are exploring all kinds of different ideas of identity, not just masculinity or femininity. ...I think it’s okay just to be yourself and whatever that entails.” 

Openly gay stars like Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer and Neil Patrick Harris have been making their own respective waves in Hollywood for some time now. So here’s to hoping they’ll be given the same shot at mainstream success as their straight counterparts moving forward. 

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Those traveling to Rio de Janeiro for the Olympics will want to make sure to look up.

And not just because of the city’s iconic “Christ the Redeemer” statue — but because French artist JR has just completed two amazing installations of enormous athletic figures that appear to float over buildings. The sculptures are made out of an image canvased onto scaffolding.

The artist — who recently made headlines for an optical illusion that appeared to make the Louvre in Paris disappear — identified one piece in the center of Rio as depicting a high jump performed by Mohamed Younes Idriss of Sudan.

“He missed out on qualification for the 2016 Rio Olympics but he is there some how :),” JR wrote.

A second enormous figure, which Design Boom reports is located in the city’s Barra neighborhood, appears to show a person diving into the ocean.

These pieces definitely deserve a gold medal.

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Most human beings can empathize with the visceral urge to disguise oneself, temporarily transforming into another person, being or thing. The simple act of wearing a mask, for example, can cast out the responsibilities and expectations that ordinarily govern us, even if only for a brief period. Under the protection and liberation of a mask, we are free.

Female masking is an underground subculture of predominately heterosexual men who enjoy dressing up in women’s fetish gear to transform themselves into living sex dolls. 

The Atlantic’s Luke Malone looked into the world of masking in 2014, speaking to a veteran masker named Kerry about his passion for masks. Kerry explained he was first enthralled by 1970s episodes of “Mission Impossible,” in which characters would assume the identity of others with ease ― or at least, with latex. “Intrigued by the idea of transformation,” Malone wrote, “Kerry would sit and look at his third-grade teacher in amazement, wondering what it would be like if her face were a mask.”

Traditionally, a female masker covers himself completely in a rubber latex body suit and mask, so no skin is exposed. The latex body is covered up with latex costumes or more everyday women’s wear, transforming the wearer into a submissive sexual object. 

“When I saw the first picture of a female masker I remember electricity going through me,” photographer Daniel Handal wrote in an email to The Huffington Post. Handal was fixated on this hidden world of role-playing and kink, surprised that it had remained hidden from his vantage point for so long. 

“My favorite photos were not the sexualized pictures but the ones that mimicked domesticity,” Handal continued. “They reminded me of Leigh Bowery a bit but I didn’t know anything about this fetish and had not seen anything like it in art or popular culture — a rare find. We live in a culture of reality TV and social media — private lives are exploited for public entertainment. Few things remain hidden or underground for long in our culture.”

Before long, Handal found himself at the Rubberdoll World Rendezvous, an annual masking gathering held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, camera in tow. Because masking is founded upon the pleasures of role-playing and exhibitionism, many maskers are eager to get their photos taken. “I think it’s about the desire to be objectified to such an extent that one is playing the part of an actual sex object,” Handal said. “A doll is there for someone else’s enjoyment and pleasure.”

Handal took a series of portraits at the Minneapolis convention, along with others outside of Baltimore and in New York. Because of the heavily performative nature of masking, Handal describes his photographic technique as a documentary chronicling of staged scenarios. 

One of the greatest challenges Handal faced in creating his series stemmed from the Rubberdoll World Rendezvous’ unofficial rule banning people from wearing plainclothes on the premises. Thus, Handal himself donned a latex suit and mask while taking the photos, adding a peculiar dimension to the images themselves. “I had to look through a small hole in my mask and into the rangefinder to manually focus and adjust exposures and focal range on the spot,” he said. “Very exciting way to make a picture!”

The dress-up experience also gave Handal additional insight into why so many people enjoy dressing up as living dolls. “If you are wearing a full latex outfit or mask, you can’t really eat or drink,” Handal said. “Part of the appeal is that your senses are constrained. It’s difficult to speak, listen, walk or do much ― it’s disorienting.”

Handal’s photographs playfully chronicle a world in which being yourself is inextricably bound with being someone else. The images are at once viscerally strange and yet based in profoundly human desires ― to escape, to transform, to play. “I hope that when people look at the photos, they see a complex and curious sensibility,” Handal put it. “I also hope people don’t take it too seriously. It’s role-playing. It’s meant to be wicked fun.”

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This week, Olympic medal hopefuls are making their way to Rio de Janeiro with the necessary equipment: soccer cleats, swim caps, leotards, oars. Charging into the Games dressed in Nike swooshes and elastane, they’ll look like the sports stars of Wheaties boxes past.

Over a century ago, the Olympic scene was a bit different.

In 1912, some aspiring gold medalists trekked to Stockholm, Sweden, with pens, paintbrushes, clay and sheet music. Because, yes, the Summer Olympics that year allowed artists, architects, writers and musicians to compete in events just like the traditional athletes. So while Hawaiian swimmer Duke Kahanamoku was dominating the 100-meter freestyle race, an Italian man named Giovanni Pellegrini was also besting his rivals ― in painting.

The Huffington Post was reminded of this pleasant bit of Olympic trivia this week thanks to a Facebook commenter. “William Butler Yeats’ brother Jack won a silver medal in the 1924 Olympics... in painting,” the commenter wrote. And sure enough, a look at Olympics results history shows that Jack B. Yeats placed second in the 1924 painting event for his work “The Liffey Swim.” 

The first Olympic Games held under the auspices of the IOC took place in 1896. The first Games to include art events occurred in 1912 and continued until 1948. They included architecture, painting, sculpture, literature and music events, all judged by an international jury. According to The Atlantic, rules dictated that the Olympic artwork should “bear a definite relationship to the Olympic concept,” so all epic poetry, musical compositions and oil paintings were required to reflect some aspect of sports. Songs about sports, sculptures about sports. You get it.

The entire concept was the brainchild of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the IOC, who saw art and sports going hand in hand. “He was raised and educated classically, and he was particularly impressed with the idea of what it meant to be a true Olympian ― someone who was not only athletic, but skilled in music and literature,” Richard Stanton, author of The Forgotten Olympic Art Competitions, told Smithsonian magazine. “He felt that in order to recreate the events in modern times, it would be incomplete to not include some aspect of the arts.”

So why don’t we talk more about the illustrious art history of the Olympics? Probably because not many artists of note took part. Famous faces like Igor Stravinsky served as judges for the events, but in terms of the competitors, most ― like Luxembourgian painter Jean Jacoby, Polish composer Zbigniew Turski, Swiss artist Alex Diggelmann and Danish writer Josef Petersen ― are less recognized. De Coubertin himself took home a medal when he submitted work under the pseudonyms George Hohrod and Martin Eschbach, and his art is not exactly hanging in the Met.

The reason for the absence of Picassos and Kahlos might have something to do with the fact that while some sports lend themselves to quantitative ― and qualitative ― judgement, many artists have long resisted the parameters of competitive creativity. “The dubiousness of judging aesthetic achievement by committee has been a common subject for complaint ever since awards began proliferating like wildflowers in the last half-century,” Charles Isherwood wrote for The New York Times. 

Most likely, the dearth of talent was tied to the fact that “professional” artists were discouraged from competing in the Olympics due to the Games’ amateur status requirement, prohibiting paid artists and athletes from participating. 

Olympic art-making ended in 1948. Interest in the events had been dwindling, so organizers opted to replace them with a noncompetitive exhibition that would show concurrently with the Games. Sadly, art medals awarded over the years were deleted from the official Olympic record. 

Today, we have only the incredulous comments on Facebook to conjure memories of Olympic artists. Which, for a brief moment, might be enough to distract us from the crisis and doubt plaguing the Rio Olympics right now.

For more Olympics coverage:

• How To Sound Like You Know Your Stuff While Watching Olympic Gymnastics


• As Olympics Begin, Senators Renew Call For Equal Pay For U.S. Women’s Soccer Stars


• Members Of The Olympic Refugee Team Come To Rio With A Simple Message

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Although traditional groom’s attire includes jackets and long sleeves, these tattooed gentleman found a way to let their ink shine through. 

Whether they have an armful of tats or just a smaller one, the handsome guys below rocked their big day ink with style. 

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