Mapplethorpe’s male figure studies were often athletic black men because “he could extract a greater richness from the colour of their skin”. Typical of these studies, Ken Moody is photographed in Mapplethorpe’s studio with photographic backdrop material to allow absolute focus on the figure in the foreground. The lighting is arranged to enhance the sitter’s symmetrical features, muscle definition and bone-structure. Moody's eyes are closed, indicating that this work is more closely related to Mapplethorpe’s body studies rather than one of his portraits. The subject is in perfect symmetry with his mouth and nose at the very centre of the image, his shoulders fill the bottom of the frame and his smooth head forms triangular shape at the top of the image.