Michael Alago, Stephen at Dusk (from the Rough Gods series), 2006

Michael Alago is a New York photographer and former music-industry executive. As an A&R executive he signed Metallica to Elektra Records and worked with artists including White Zombie, Nina Simone and Cyndi Lauper before leaving the music business in the early 2000s to pursue photography.

His ongoing series Rough Gods portrays tattooed, muscular men in intimate, unguarded settings, balancing toughness and vulnerability. He has published several books of photographs, including Rough Gods and Beautiful Imperfections.