Comments on Fluffytek Art Blog: Erotica: The thinking Person’s Porn

The definition as to what is viewed as erotic or p...

2009-06-03T13:31:02.690+01:00

The definition as to what is viewed as erotic or pornographic tends to blur as our exposure to both increases. Pornography, I think, tends to assault the senses with its detachment, brazenness, while erotica invites subtly. Pornography objectifies, while erotica embodies.

I have to agree with the comments made by Unbearab...

2008-07-20T15:50:00.000+01:00

I have to agree with the comments made by Unbearable Lightness. I've shot quite a bit of erotica for somebody who has only been modeling one year. Why? Because I find porn so fake and pathetic.. no emotion to it, no story.. yet I am a very sexual person. And a very emotional & genuine person. I think doing erotica just fits my personality. It is my favorite type of image to view, and to create. Because it is real. It is raw emotions. I would much rather be a part of that than some generic figure studies where the model is overly posed and has no facial expression. I like photography that is truly capturing something. I love these images, by the way.

Great discussion folks. Thanks to all. Very enligh...

2008-07-14T12:15:00.000+01:00

Great discussion folks. Thanks to all. Very enlightening :-)

I've been looking at both pictures for a while now...

2008-07-14T00:31:00.000+01:00

I've been looking at both pictures for a while now.....what stool????

Really thoughtful comments here.But is the real qu...

2008-07-14T00:03:00.000+01:00

Really thoughtful comments here.

But is the real question not so much about the words used to label an image, but about acceptability, good and bad, right and wrong?

Another question would be, "If the intent is porn, but the perception isn't, what is it?"

Just as we could ask, "If the intent is not porn, but the perception is, what is it?"

All good points made here.Erotic/porn...vast gray ...

2008-07-13T19:37:00.000+01:00

All good points made here.
Erotic/porn...vast gray areas that each has an idea what is to himself/herself.
Wonderful images, and like other, I like the stool too.

Oh, my...Love the images, Lin. Just to add in my 2...

2008-07-12T09:46:00.000+01:00

Oh, my...

Love the images, Lin. Just to add in my 2 cents, even though I do not do much in terms of erotica, I'd say the biggerst difference is that erotica is still an artistic expression. This goes hand in hand with the difference between shooting the nude and taking a picture of someone naked.

Art imitates life. Sex is still a fact of life and the ultimate expression of passion and feelings. Who's to say the line has to be drawn at the edge of sex and implied sex. I think art can still encompass the actual act of sex under the erotic umbrella, but I don't thing the same cannot be said of pornography. I've seen images that depict the act itself, but the main intent was not arouse. There was definately a shock value to it, but it elicit a feeling of arousal.

The general public may well indeed classify it all as porn. That being the case, we still know better. I also agree that its not the easiest thing in the world to pull off, but then again, neither is capturing the nude.

Great post, Lin. I have got to make my way across the waters :)

The word "pornography" derives from a Greek word m...

2008-07-11T22:03:00.000+01:00

The word "pornography" derives from a Greek word meaning to write about prostitutes.

"Erotica," on the other hand, derives from the Greek word "eros," meaning sexual love.

Based on etymology, the difference does seem to be emotional--sex for love and desire, or "eros," as opposed to sex faked for money.

Would love to see Jimmy D's take on this....I have...

2008-07-11T20:17:00.000+01:00

Would love to see Jimmy D's take on this....

I have to jump in and agree with the 2 previous posts, I think. I think erotica is one of the hardest things to shoot because if not done well it falls into MY definition of porn. (The Taliban have their own definition which I find a tad too restrictive. as are the penalties.) My definition of porn having nothing to do with what is depicted (unless it is "gratuitous violence) and all to do with my perception of the quality of the depiction.

Rich should look on this genre as a real challenge - although he has produced some excellent items of erotica in the past, such as that excellent one of the "orb being drawn from within" [I haven't tried my spin on that yet Lin, but will email you when I do as I said I would.], I haven't seen him do porn yet.

Photographers are deluding themselves if they thin...

2008-07-11T19:58:00.000+01:00

Photographers are deluding themselves if they think the general public distinguishes (in any real and meaningful way) the differences between erotica and porn. It's all perceived as porn by many people and if you're the author of such work you're a pornographer in their eyes.

Kudos to Rich on some beautiful erotica. To me, w...

2008-07-11T17:30:00.000+01:00

Kudos to Rich on some beautiful erotica.

To me, what separates porn from erotica is the emotion expressed. Orixx and I just did an erotic shoot with Joe Crachiola, and we really pushed boundaries with it. What struck Joe and me when we looked at some of the images afterward was the emotional power. This power begets "art," not "porn."

To me, porn is the glass-eyed look of women I used to see in magazines like Hustler. They were either emotionless or the emotions were badly faked. When the feeling is there and it's genuine, no matter what act is depicted, I can't see how it could be "porn."

This goes along with D.L.'s wonderful comment. Honest emotion suggests "the story" in the image. If there's no story, the picture fails to elevate above pornographic tastelessness.

"Eroticism has its own moral justification because...

2008-07-11T15:01:00.000+01:00

"Eroticism has its own moral justification because it says that pleasure is enough for me; it is a statement of the individual's sovereignty."
Mario Vargas Llosa
Latin American Author

Now were talking - Porn - Smut - Down and Dirty - risque, but since I walk upright with opposable thumbs, I'll call it erotic. Words and definitions, strange bedfellows sometimes.

Oh...yes I like the dark side. If I was a nude shooter it's the place I'd go most often. Why? Because as Mario says, it gives me pleasure. Why? Don't know. I didn't wire this brain, I just live with it.

I look at the nude for one reason. It gives me pleasure. Some just give me more than others. I love to put "my" story into the image. Really...what makes an image great to the viewer is the story your head writes for it.

What makes it acceptable or not? Mostly religion - some social pressure - some family attitude of sex as we grew up. That is if we grew up. I find very little is what I'd call porn. Mostly porn to me is if it involves children or the person was forced to participate.

I find it strange that you can shoot a woman all day long showing her breasts and ass, but open her legs and show that vertical smile...BAM the context has changed. It just proves the power of a woman - even in a photo she becomes the graven image.

To end this I must say, that is the most erotic stool I have ever seen.

D.L. Wood