CLIFTON PARK — Nancy Bruno’s grandmother always told her: “You don’t do for one and not for the other.” So when her son told her that it was unfair that she created a book on women and not on men, she heard her grandmother’s wisdom echoed and she knew her son was right.

So the author/photographer of “Beautiful Women: Celebrating Beauty in Stories and Stills” started work on “Genuine Men: Journeys in Stories and Stills.” The slim book, a compilation of black-and-white photographs and profiles of 35 men of character, has just been released. To celebrate its printing, an exhibition of portraits from the book is now on view at the Southern Saratoga YMCA.

Bruno said the men chosen represent “everyday people who had strength of character, who were role models, who could teach others” something about living. “It’s how they conducted themselves throughout their lives. How they met their experiences and challenges.”

Her hope is that their stories, as well as those of her 35 chosen women, will inspire young people to honor their potential and strive to for integrity, not just wealth, fame, beauty and accomplishment.

Worthy role models

A former English and social studies teacher, the 37-year-old Bruno is now weaving these stories into a curriculum on character building. She plans on bringing her program to public schools, especially those that lack funding for extracurricular programs. And sales of the book will go toward a number of charities, including the YMCA’s Reach Out to Youth and the Salavation Army.

A graduate of the State University of New York at Binghamton and of Union College, the mother of two sat near her photographs, cast on masculine stainless steel dibond, in the YMCA lobby. As she pointed to various portraits, she talked about her work as a documentary photographer.

Q: How did you get into documentary photography?

A: I never took a photography class until I was 24. I was a teacher. My fiancé was transferred to Montreal. And I couldn’t work. I started taking photography and printmaking. I had to come up with a photo project about something I didn’t understand and photograph around that theme. My first documentary was about Canadian winter and how people survive it. I went around the city and photographed kids wrapped up in fur and people playing music underground. That’s how I started. When I moved to London, I started to incorporate the element of storytelling. I volunteered at a museum where I interviewed World War II survivors. I researched where they lived and how they were being bombed all the time. I added in my subjects’ stories with the photos. It just continued to develop form there.

Q: What did you find inspirational in these men?

A: I’m proud of what is in front of me because I feel it is a reflection of what is truly good with the men of our society. I write if my sons only had 20 minutes with any of these men, they will walk away with a tool or lesson to make them become better men. They are phenomenal people.

Q: How did you pick them?

A: A lot of them, like [songwriter] Bob Warren, I was told about. I would tell people what I was doing and they would say, “I got someone.” Other ones, I found. I sit quietly and observe life. I went with a friend to get pedicures. And Leighton was giving my friend a pedicure. I noticed the amazing tattoos on his arms. There was something soulful and good about him. I asked him about his story.

His parents left Vietnam, moved to Southern California where was he placed smack in the middle of 25,000 gangs. He tried to assimilate into the culture, learn the language. He became a gang member. The gang was a like an extension of his family. His story talks about how his best friend was killed in front of him when he was 14, how he was in and out of jail, and the realization that this is not who he wanted to be.

He educated himself so he could be a better man and a better father for his kid. He won’t deny he was in jail. But he recognized his past is not his present or his future. He turned his life around and became a great man and a great role model for kids who are struggling.

Q: Are all of the men from around here?

A: No. I traveled a lot. Vermont, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Long Island. But a lot of them came from this area.

Q: Where would you like the photographs to be shown?

A: Like the women’s project, I want the men’s project to travel to universities and colleges. The men’s project will go to Siena [College] this fall. But I really want to go into middle and high schools to teach young men about character development, good choices and self-esteem. I want to show people that good role models are right next door. They are teachers, friends, parents. They are all around. They are men who are living quietly.

Q: Do you interview them first and then photograph them?

A: I spend a lot of time with them first before we get to the photograph. I wanted to capture them when they are not paying attention to me. I wanted them to be completely in their own element, just living their lives.

Q: Were the men harder than the women to interview. Were they more reticent?

A: When I talked with the women for “Beautiful Women,” not one shed a tear. I would have to say that half of the men did. It was very emotional. Some of them felt badly about it. But it was a wonderful experience for me. I thanked them for sharing with me and then I wanted to make sure I told their stories compassionately, dimensionally and truthfully.