{"id":1046603,"date":"2025-12-12T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1046603"},"modified":"2025-12-12T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T05:00:00","slug":"these-photos-explore-the-human-tender-gritty-truths-behind-kink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1046603","title":{"rendered":"These photos explore the \u2018human, tender, gritty truths\u2019 behind kink"},"content":{"rendered":"
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VOYEUR2<\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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Gallery \/ 7 images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Photographers have long been fascinated with the darker side of sexuality \u2013 from Robert Mapplethorpe<\/a> to Catherine Opie<\/a> to Bob Carlos Clarke, kink and fetish are part of the artistic canon. But if previously photographing BDSM or leather meant shining a light on parts of culture which were hidden and marginalised, today kink \u2013 or at least kink aesthetic \u2013 has reached the mainstream. From Pillion<\/em> star Alexander Skarsg\u00e2rd <\/span>donning leather thigh-high boots in Cannes<\/span><\/a> to Kylie Jenner<\/span>confessing her love for latex dresses<\/span><\/a>, it seems that everyone wants a piece of the subversive appeal.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it doesn\u2019t mean that the artistic quest for documenting kink is over. On the contrary, photographers pushing artistic boundaries around sexual subcultures have a harder task at hand: asking what makes a community, uncovering the playfulness beyond the mere shock factor and asking, what does it mean to have a truly dirty mind in times when kink has been sanitised? Matt Ford\u2019s most recent exhibition <\/span>VOYEUR2<\/span><\/em><\/a> brings together eight photographers who get into the human, tender, gritty truths behind latex and leather.<\/span><\/p>\n

Based in London, Matt Ford<\/a> is both a curator and a photographer, focusing on exploring queerness, drag, sexuality, and identity through portraiture, video and collaborations. In his work, sexuality is treated as something essential to who we are, to the joy of unbound self-expression and the very texture of life. Kink has been something Ford has been drawn to for a long time<\/span>.<\/span><\/em>\u201cI keep returning to the kink community because I\u2019m drawn to the raw, uninhibited personalities who push themselves outside what society expects. I find those subjects empowering,\u201d he says. \u201cGood kink or erotic art also pushes at what art is supposed to be. Some people write it off as just smut, but with the right intent, it becomes something so beautiful and personal.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Klub Verboten E1<\/span>Photography Modest Gold<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Ford admits that the surge of kink imagery in fashion, film and mainstream culture has been one of the reasons he was inspired to put together the show. \u201cMost of it feels diluted,\u201d he adds. \u201cThis exhibition looks past the surface to show the depth and full spectrum of what kink actually is.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The artists on show offer a diverse view on sex and kink across different genders, sexualities and desires. <\/span>Caitlin Damsell<\/span><\/a> captures the bold aesthetic and subcultural charge of latex, while <\/span>The Berlin Chameleon<\/span><\/a> exposes the tenderness and intimacy between those sharing a latex fetish. <\/span>Miss Gold<\/span><\/a> offers candid and raw film photography focusing on women\u2019s sexuality, taken both at BDSM scenes and One Night Parties, a kink night for women and non-binary people she runs. <\/span>Joaquin Bielsa<\/span><\/a>\u2019s artistically refined black and white photography zooms in on the beauty and intensity of the gay fetish scene.\u00a0 <\/span>Lilith Vulgaris<\/span><\/a>\u2019s textured film photography puts latex in cinematic, dreamy landscapes. <\/span>Tom Selmon<\/span><\/a> focuses on the playful, the physical and the surreal in queer sex, while curator and writer <\/span>Matt Skully<\/span><\/a> contributed some instant photographs documenting erotic moments and connections.<\/span><\/p>\n

VOYEUR2<\/em> offers not only a range of different points of view, but also a variety of formats.\u00a0<\/span>Many artists working with the erotic today favour analogue: zines, film and instant photography and physical objects. It is both a testament to the strong DIY culture the scene has always had, but also an escape from <\/span>online censorship<\/span><\/a>. People lean towards physical media as a space of artistic experimentation, but also knowing that it can withstand time and the rising conservatism (pay a visit to the <\/span>UK Leather and Fetish archive<\/span><\/a> for receipts).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Adrian<\/span>Photography Joaquin Bielsa<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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In erotic photography, a paradox between performance and deep emotional sincerity often comes to the fore. The exhibition\u2018s title also interrogates the role of the photographer: what does it mean to document something so embodied and vulnerable, as well as liberating? In VOYEUR2,<\/em> photographers are looking for the inside, their perspectives filtered through their own personal stories and involvement in the kink communities. All the visual attributes of the culture \u2013 the chains, the leather, the rubber \u2013 are integral to it, but also serve as the way to capture intensity, softness and deep human connection. It is a delicate dance between what we know about the community and what only those inside it can truly know.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA kink photograph \u2013 or any photograph \u2013 stands out when it reframes something we think we already understand,\u201d Ford adds. \u201cWe\u2019ve all seen the fully kitted-up gimp, but the right image makes you look again.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

VOYEUR2 runs December 12-14\u00a0 at MF Studio London, book <\/span><\/em>here<\/span><\/em><\/a>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Source URL: https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/69269\/1\/voyeur2-matt-ford-exhibition-kink-bdsm-sexuality-exhibition-photography<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VOYEUR2 Gallery \/ 7 images Photographers have long been fascinated with the darker side of sexuality \u2013 from Robert Mapplethorpe to Catherine Opie to Bob Carlos Clarke, kink and fetish are part of the artistic canon. But if previously photographing BDSM or leather meant shining a light on parts of culture which were hidden and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[76],"class_list":["post-1046603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1046603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1046603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1046603\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1046603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1046603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1046603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}