TheEroticLens

People often ask me why I photograph nudes, BDSM, and erotic subjects.

The answer usually surprises them.

I don't photograph those things because they shock people. I photograph them because they require trust.

Anyone can smile for a camera. Anyone can strike a pose. What interests me is the moment someone stops performing and simply allows themselves to be seen. That's the photograph I've been chasing for more than fifty years.

Somewhere along the way, I realized I wasn't really photographing bodies at all. I was photographing trust.

Most of the people I photograph today come to me through word of mouth. One person trusts me enough to stand in front of my camera, then tells someone else, who tells someone else. Looking back, I think that's the greatest compliment I've ever received. Cameras change. Styles change. Trust never goes out of style.

Before I ever make a photograph, we talk. Sometimes it's ten minutes. Sometimes it's two hours. Sometimes days.

The camera stays in the bag until we're both comfortable enough to forget it's there. I've learned that people don't reveal themselves because a camera is pointed at them. They reveal themselves because they feel safe enough to do it. That's when the portrait begins.

People sometimes assume that because much of my work is erotic, that's what defines me as a photographer.

It doesn't.

I've photographed artists, mechanics, businessmen, musicians, couples, quiet landscapes at sunrise, flowers that only bloom for a few days, and people exploring parts of themselves they've never shared with anyone else. To me, those aren't different kinds of photographs. They're all about the same thing. They're about trust.

I've never been interested in photographing perfect people. Perfect is easy. "Real" is interesting.

The wrinkles, the scars, the nervous laugh before the first frame, the silence after someone realizes they don't have to impress me—those moments have always meant more to me than perfect lighting or perfect posing.

After all these years, I'm still learning and yearning to create.

Every person who walks through my door teaches me something about people, and if I'm paying attention, something about myself. That's one of the reasons I still love picking up a camera after all this time.

I don't expect everyone to understand every photograph I make. Art has never worked that way. But I do hope people will take a second look before deciding what they think they're seeing. Sometimes a photograph that appears to be about nudity is really about vulnerability. Sometimes a portrait that seems provocative is really about acceptance.

More often than not, the body is simply the least interesting part of the photograph.

What interests me is the person. And what could be~

If someone leaves my home feeling respected, heard, and comfortable in their own skin, then I've succeeded—even before they see the finished image.

The photograph is simply the record of that trust.

Low day rates, overnights available ~~ the images here are only the tip of my work, but Im limited to ten. See more of my work here ~

fetlife.com/The-Erotic-Lens