A Momentary Interaction

For a moment I step away from the camera and look you in the eyes, unmediated by a screen. “What’s wrong?” you ask me, only a few short steps away, just beyond the warm glow of daylight. “Are you not getting what you want?” The tenor of your voice seems lower than usual, more deliberate, like the carefully placed steps of a man wandering in blinding snow. It is Sunday afternoon, and unseasonably warm for December. You lie quietly in my bed, grey jersey reflecting light onto your legs and chest like diffused ripples of water. Your left hand rests somewhere between the V of your ribcage and your chest, your right hand tucked defensively between two pillows. Your eyes are awash with anticipation, the uncertainty of what’s to come. I sense a shift in your mood, a weariness that I don’t fully understand. I take off my shirt. Your eyes dart from the lens to my chest, from the camera to the tattoo that covers my stomach. We no longer know where to look. **** My work examines the tension between representation and presentation, between the traditionally singular desire inherent in the photographer’s gaze, and the mutual desires involved in cruising, one night stands, and other casual encounters. Through the use of models met on cruising and dating sites I create images which are both confrontational and infused with intimacy; of figures at once caught in the act and looking to engage in it. By constructing images rife with sexual tension, I complicate traditional depictions of desire, blurring the line between what is a genuine connection and what is only momentary.