August 18, 2004
Photography
David Steinberg
About the Photographer . . .
's photography has appeared in Cupido, Libido, On Our Backs, Common Ground, Metro Santa Cruz, and Spectator magazines, in The Mammoth Book of Erotic Photography, and Photo Sex, on numerous book covers, and on many online websites. He is the author of "Comes Naturally," an internationally distributed column dealing with the culture and politics of sex. His books include Photo Sex: Fine Art Sexual Photography Comes of Age, Erotic by Nature: A Celebration of Life, of Love, and of Our Wonderful Bodies, and The Erotic Impulse: Honoring the Sensual Self. He is U.S. photo representative for Cupido magazine (Norway/Denmark), and Associate Editor of Sexuality and Culture magazine. He lives in Santa Cruz, California, and can be contacted at eronat@aol.com.
From the Photographer . . .
After years of soliciting other photographers' erotic and sexual images for Norway's Cupido magazine, I decided in late 1999 to try my own hand at capturing something real and meaningful about sex on film. I was fascinated by the dynamics inherent to sexual photography. How does a third party, with a camera in his hand, encourage a couple to feel unselfconscious enough to share with the camera and the outside world the subtleties of their most intimate and private connection? After more than 50 varied photo shoots, that question is more intriguing to me than ever.
I have worked primarily, though not exclusively, with people in loving, long-term relationships, in the familiarity of their own homes. Each shoot is completely experimental. We all have to leave our expectations and preconceptions at the door. No one knows what will happen. Whatever happens will be fine. The worst thing that can happen is that we waste some time and some film.
I try to follow the sexual energy of a shoot, rather than to lead or direct it. Inevitably, I notice and record the aspects of sex that interest me most — intimacy, play, passion, small gestures, the quality of a touch, moments of obvious surrender and trust.� I focus more on faces and hands than on genitals — though genitals do have a special interest and appeal all their own. Each shoot is unique and properly so, reflecting the individuality of each couple.
I am committed to photographing a broad range of couples, to challenge the popular notion that sex and sexiness are somehow reserved for the young, thin, glamorous people we see in advertising and on television. I have photographed people ranging in age from 25 to 65, heavy people as well as thin, disabled as well as abled. I am interested in all genders, ethnicities, and sexual orientations. I am always interested in speaking with new people who want to be photographed as part of this project.
How we think of sex, and how we think of ourselves as sexual people, is shaped extensively by the images of sex and sexual attractiveness we see around us. Images that trivialize sex encourage us to relate to sex in trivial ways. Images that portray sex as complex, intimate, and mysterious encourage us to become sexual in deeper, and ultimately more satisfying, ways. In recent years, more and more photographers have begun to acknowledge sex in this way. I'm delighted to have become part of that process.
David Steinberg, P.O. Box 2992, Santa Cruz, CA 95063, (831) 426-7082, eronat@aol.com
And . . .
David is always looking for new couples to photograph as part of his couples project. If you would like to talk to him about being photographed, contact him at eronat@aol.com.
For the last 11 years, David has also been writing "Comes Naturally" — a monthly column dealing with a broad range of sex and gender issues. Comes Naturally is available online, free and confidential, to anyone interested in receiving it. To sign up for the "Comes Naturally" list, send your name and email address to David at eronat@aol.com. Past "Comes Naturally" columns are archived at http://www.sexuality.org/davids.html
