Eroticism in art nude photography

williams"Dawning" - Johnny Donnels

Gabrielle Rigon & Andreas Bitesniche share more than a few common peculiarities. Both are among the most highly regarded contemporary high-art erotic photographers around, and both have spots on my short list of creative talent I hold in high regard. Both are also masters of exploring fetishism and eroticism through art photography, and this is no small achievment. It's a sensibility lacking in much of the self oriented "tasteful" nude art photography littering amateur photo boards all over the internet, where the emphasis is not on the exploration of sexuality, rather the thrill of having found a creative excuse to take dirty pictures. Whereas Rigon and Bitesniche leverage nudity as a means to an end, most of the self described nude art photographers out there are content with seeing nudity as nothing more than the end unto itself. Rigon and Bitesniche invite the viewer to explore their own fetishisms using voyeurism as a vehicle; an invitation to a candid dialogue with their own sexuality. And that is the thrill of eroticism in art photography. In the hands of a truly skilled artist, it can be envoked whether the subject is clothed or not.

For examples of nudity as a basis for non-erotic high-art photography; I encourage you to explore the imaginative, other-worldly art of Ryan McGinley.