I make pictures of people.
Sometimes they are having sex.
Sometimes they are being kinky.
Sometimes they are just sitting there thinking or smoking a cigar.
As a general rule, I don’t pose people. I photograph sincere moments that real people are experiencing. I photograph the energy of the moment, what is happening in the room. I document.
I don’t pre-visualize something and manipulate the models into position. More than anything I respect the extreme trust that someone puts into me, the woman with the camera.
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| This couple wanted to play out a "sex in the alley" fantasy scene. Everyone involved had an amazing time, even our "lookout" who was keeping guard from passers by who wanted to get a lookie-loo. Copyright Shilo McCabe 2011 |
It is important to me that people have a hand in helping to create their own representation, especially women - who have been historically deprived of the opportunity to do so. My work is a collaboration with the person or people in front of the camera. I want everyone involved with the shoot to feel completely comfortable with every part of the process, including the final images we create. I want them to retain that power. I'm not here to objectify, I'm here to document, often I document the erotic. My work is "docurotic".
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| Copyright Shilo McCabe 2011. |
I am not concerned about the "size of my lens".
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| Copyright Shilo McCabe 2011. |
I do not have a male gaze.
I think the problem with the traditional male gaze as seen in erotic photography is that the desire (and power) has been taken from the subject of the photo. She has been turned into an object that is incomplete without the (male) viewer and by implication, his desire for her as an object. Her power has been taken away and given to the viewer. My participants retain their desire and their power. The power of the image is within the subject of that image. They are complete and whole whether there is a viewer or not. When I photograph women in intimate situations these are women who are letting us respectfully watch.
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| Copyright Shilo McCabe 2011 |
I am a sex-positive feminist photographer.
