By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use. French photographer Aurelien Nobecourt Arras picked up the camera 10 years ago.
Formally trained in film photography, he's always explored in some way or another the different ways in which the body is represented.
Like my first, really comprehensive sex-ed class. Inspired by a mixture of Robert Mapplethorpe, Claude Cahun and Nobuyoshi Araki, Nobecourt Arras has spent a significant amount of time integrating abrupt sexuality with the delicate medium of film photography. It complicates photography unnecessarily. What is simpler than a body wanting another? Through this exploration of the laws of attraction and our most basic desire for sex, Nobecourt Arras makes the shocking normal and the unusual fun.
At one point in history, sex for anything other than procreation was considered perverse, so who are we kidding? It comes as no surprise then that Nobecourt Arras has chosen to include himself in many of his photographs and make his subjects more or less anonymous. This vulnerabilizing gesture places the artist at the center of his work, taking the responsibility of carrying the weight of representing all kinds of sexualities on his back.
More than that, though, Nobecourt Arras also establishes a space for men to get their freak on without having to face the shame and marginalization they would otherwise face by exposing themselves. But by no means is Nobecourt Arras advocating for men to hide their true sexual desire. Rather, by putting himself in the front lines, he's making it clear that it's not a risk, it's a liberation. I'm not saying everyone is or should be wild in bed or wherever , but to me sexual behavior is just another form of human behavior, and by extension it is as varied and diverse as humanity itself.
