Erotica?

Erotica?

I started this alphabet with a few things to do with lenses – fruitful ground for techies and nerds to argue, but not involving too many matters of opinion. Different today.

My photographic specialism is portraits and nudes, and these cover a very wide range of images. Within the model-and-studio community, there’s a lot of use of the term ‘levels’ – it means the types of work that models (and photographers, and studios) are comfortable with producing. For instance, some models are only willing to pose fully clothed: others are quite happy to pose with no clothing at all. Some of them want to pose with strategically placed props or limbs (think Calendar Girls), while others are entirely happy with a full frontal approach.

And then there’s a level called ‘erotic’ – and none of the model-photographer websites define this, causing no end of confusion and sometimes argument. Almost everyone has a different definition…

The dictionary I used at school defines erotic as ‘pertaining to sexual love’ and erotica as ‘erotic literature’ – so this is about sex, as well as about art.

But talk to models, and it may be anything from the look in the eye to a high degree of physical exposure. Something suggestive in the raise of an eyebrow, or the way clothing is disarranged. Have a look at RonTear’s image HERE for a shot that seems to me to embody something erotic: and maybe that’s the key – an erotic image is one in which the viewer sees more than is actually present, because the picture stimulates the imagination. The brain is a powerful erogenous zone!

It’s therefore logical that erotic pictures are the product, usually, of a thoughtful and introspective imagination: I know one model whose entire portfolio is constructed around her personal erotic fantasies: and may others for whom the idea of posing for anything erotic is unacceptable, though art nude is fine!

A final thought is that it’s a difficult area. Amateur Photographer used to produce an annual Erotica edition. It ceased, well over a decade ago, for multiple reasons. Some readers didn’t like it, and some newsagents were unhappy. And, to confuse matters, the editor found that the cutting edge practitioners were working in areas that were quite challenging for the general reader: in other words, their pictures would be unacceptable in a mainstream publication (or on a mainstream photographic website such as Ephotozine).

So for those who seek a real photographic challenge, way beyond the straightforward difficulty of remembering how to set the camera in the presence of a naked body, this could be for you...

The model in my picture is French Chloe, who has figured in my portfolio quite a few times. She's an undoubted mistress of erotic images, and brings a Gallic style to every image.