A little over a year ago, as a few of you may remember, a woman contacted me via Etsy: “How pleased I am to find another female photographer who does erotic images of men…I swear there are about 6 of you in the world.” 
That woman was Suraya Sidhu Singh, and at the time I laughed at her comments regarding my “erotic” photographs. I rarely shoot implied or blatant nudes, and so I thought she was a little crazy for filing my work under that category.
However, after many conversations back and forth, I realized Suraya was on to something I’d never really consciously seen in my own work. Non-traditional, non-mainstream (yet attractive) people enjoying themselves are indeed erotic–possibly not sexual, but sensual. Suraya’s generous comments allowed me to unrestrain my female gaze just a bit, and I credit her for inspiring me to try open-minded and wilder things within my artwork.
In return, it is my pleasure to present to you the first issue of Suraya’s London-based magazine, Filament, dubbed “The Thinking Woman’s Crumpet”, a highly-researched, beautifully bound publication chock full of both saucy males posing for the camera and intelligent articles. I just love her letter from the editor:
“Do you remember the magazines? They were so full of things that inspired us…When did we get ahead of them? Growing into the type of woman they didn’t want to talk to…We stand at the back of the male strip revue on a hen night, looking past the oiled, muscle-bound hunks, checking out the narrow-hipped lads behind the bar. If I look for us in magazines, I won’t find us…There is only so much to be said about the state of women’s media before you have to sort out the problem yourself.”
And indeed, she has. Filament is filled, cover to matte cover, with articles about witchcraft, pubic hair, making music, feminism, the ethics of porn, and alternative history. I have never in my life seen a women’s erotic magazine that wasn’t degrading, disgusting, and telling me to diet and/or suffer for hotter sex. Thus, I am very excited about this publication, not to mention some of my food porn pics are featured with a delicious celeriac dish. Yes, folks, a dirty magazine with recipes (and Jean-Paul in leather trousers)!
Now that I’ve bragged on it, I should tell you that Filament is online at http://filamentmagazine.com/
Go get a copy!
Thank you. [Photo of Suraya by Gerard Harvey.]
Some of the photos in the set are not safe for work (they contain respectful nudity), and you’ll need to log into Flickr to see those. I will be editing and sharing more images between now and the time of the show, though I hope to see you there in person. I probably will have very few prints of the set for sale at first, but I intend to produce a lovely set of fridge magnets for purchase. Magnets go nicely with the foodie theme. 
