The human body is a beautiful thing and has every right to be photographed and categorized as art. However, I don’t really get how pornography photography fits into this category. Maybe it’s due to the fact that I felt extremely uncomfortable viewing Elsbeth’s slide show. You don’t see things like that every day. And ultimately I think that is what disturbs me and other with pictures such as this. Sex is a private (or at least is legally promoted as private) act between people or maybe even between just one person. People tend to leave the definition of sex open-ended because of it’s taboo, exotic, and secretive place in society. So ignore my lame attempt to define it. But the vulgarity of porn in general turns me away from it, even though it’s hard for me to explain what is so vulgar about it. The almost enticing invisibility surrounding sex in our culture makes pornography a dangerous and maybe even immoral thing to do. But if it’s in the context of art and celebration of the human body, then who’s to say that’s not legitimate.
But for whatever reasons, I cannot view pornography photography as art. And really, photography depends on the viewer.
Kirsten Captures 