This is a repost of a brief bio I had in my flickr profile for quite awhile. I'm taking it off because some people get worked up even by the mere mention of pornography. But I rather like how it was written, so I'm saving it here, for posterity.
About me: I am an unschooled photographer propelled by a singular vision of beauty that inspires me. I have a deep fascination with the symbolism and aesthetics of nudity, and the natural power of eroticism. I am very much pro-sex, but while I support and encourage pornography and its positive effects when produced and consumed responsibly, I also believe strongly that there is a significant distinction to be made between pornography and erotica, the latter which inspires me more greatly. Whereas pornography aims to appeal to the sexual interest (and this is certainly no evil) by whatever means necessary, erotica, on the other hand, represents a more careful, constructed, and artistic appeal to that interest, while simultaneously appealing to other interests such as beauty, romance, longing, desire, mystery, and all of the traditional artistic compositional elements. For this reason, I believe that, though pornography has its uses as well as its values, erotica is altogether a more interesting venue for a more complex expression of everything sexuality encompasses.
My aim is to produce art that both inflames one's primal sexual desire, whilst simultaneously appealing to the subtle and more "civilized" aesthetic of artistic beauty; in short, my goal is to produce an erotic portrait you would be proud to hang on the wall in your living room (provided you have a sex-positive mindset).
As a social outcast (I spurn tradition and have a habit of questioning things most people take for granted), my access to any sort of artistic "community", or the included resources, is limited. I despise paradigms, including that of the modeling industry, as well as the popular notion of what constitutes "beauty". Not to say that I have an altogether "alternative" approach to beauty - from a certain perspective you might even say my approach is "classical" - but that I place considerable importance on "natural", rather than "artificial", beauty.
My resources being limited, I have thus far only had access to myself to use as a model, explaining the exclusive prevalence of self-portraits among my work. However, I hope someday to find a model in tune with my artistic vision, as it is the vision of feminine beauty that inspires me - rendering myself (while somewhat effeminate, ultimately too masculine) as merely an opportunistic substitute for what I truly desire to photograph. To that end, I am rather interested in those women who are sexually empowered, immodest about being seen naked, and mindful of the distinction (previously explained) between pornography and the altogether more fulfilling (and more flattering) avenue of artistic erotica. Should I ever have a chance to work with such a woman, it would be one of my dreams come true.
