VOYEUR
After his critically acclaimed series, Prints for Queers, photographer Matt Ford invites us into the kink and fetish scene with his new exhibition VOYEUR. The intimate portraits and short films celebrate diverse members of a community which is often perceived as scary, weird or simply just misunderstood.
Interview Christian Trippe Photography Matt Ford
Hi, Matt, thanks for sitting down and chatting with us today about VOYEUR. How have you been?
I’m good. Looking forward to showing everyone my work at the opening on Tuesday (29th). I have the exhibition private view and then I will be showing more work at the after party at 23 Paul Street, a female owned strip club. They believe women should be able to earn money however they want, and in doing so they are empowering their performers and reinventing what a strip club can be. It seemed the perfect place to have the after party as a lot of the exhibition is about celebrating sexuality and empowerment. Thamila, the manager of 23 Paul Street, will be featured as one of the subjects in the exhibition.
To begin with, tell me how you got the idea for this series.
In the last exhibition I did, Prints for Queers, there were a few people who were part of the kink scene. It seemed like a really fascinating and complex subject to look into more deeply and it’s quite a misunderstood culture. I didn’t want to go into it making an exhibition specifically for kink people. I wanted it to be both for that community, but also for people who aren't on that scene to create a window into that world from an outsider's point of view.
So it’s almost like a more radical version of Prints for Queers, maybe an evolution?
It's definitely yeah. I didn't realise that. I suppose. Queer people are often misrepresented but it’s also a celebration of a subculture.
Jordan Tannahill and Big Rubber
The show is called VOYEUR – why did you choose that name?
It's kind of a reflection of me, the photographer being the voyeur and looking at people's sex lives. But it's also named after anyone who comes to see the exhibition. They're all going to see these people who are free with their sexuality. Anyone who goes to the exhibition essentially becomes a voyeur as well.
“I am creating portraits of people, not sexual scenarios.”
The definition of VOYEUR is ‘a person who gains sexual pleasure from watching others when they are naked or engaged in sexual activity’. Are you planning to seduce us with your work?
[Laughs] The work, even though it's about sexuality and there's some nudity in it, there's nothing majorly sexually explicit about it. I didn’t want to show overly explicit stuff just for the sake of it. If it felt right at the time on the shoot, then I did. I am creating portraits of people, not sexual scenarios. It’s more about the person and not the sexual act itself.
Alongside the images you also interviewed the subjects. Will these also be part of the exhibition?
Yes, definitely. There will be at least one room with a projector and the interviews will be played on loop. The interviews are short films, each about 10 minutes long. There are three films of gay men on the leather scene, each from a different generation. It’s so interesting because they talk about how the scene changed over the years. There’s also a film of Inflatecub – it’s about his love of inflatables and one of Audrey, a pro dom s*x worker.
Eddy
I noticed that all subjects have been photographed in your studio. Another option would have been to take pictures of them in their homes. Why did you decide to bring them into your space?
I did take also a few pictures outdoors but I realised in order to make them feel more like series, it’s better to shoot them all in the studio where I can control the setup.
“I wanted to try and portrait the people in a way that hasn’t been done before. Colourful and exciting, to celebrate their kinks and personalities.”
Stylistically, the images are very colourful, with high contrast and very graphic. Was this choice of colour and style deliberate and how did you decide on the general styling for the portraits?
A lot of times you see these kind of images as gritty black & white pictures. I wanted to try and portrait the people in a way that hasn’t been done before. Colourful and exciting, to celebrate their kinks and personalities.
How many images and interviews are there?
There are 17 different people but there will be about 22 images in the exhibition and I have created short films of five people. There will also be QR codes which allow you to watch the interviews.
Miss Audrey Brynn
Still from the interview with Dan Zed
At what point did you decide that you stop and start putting the exhibition together?
I basically booked the exhibition space very early on and gave myself a deadline because it makes you try harder knowing that you have to get it done. I gave myself about a year to do it.
Do you think you will continue with this series after the exhibition?
Yeah, absolutely. I have a few more people who are interested in being part of it. If successful, I might take it to another city and add new work to it. Another guy just got in touch who’s putting together an archive of kink and he’s getting a lot of people involved. I am sure it will continue.
Do you think that, as a Queer artist, you had a better connection to the subject matter? The reason why I am asking is that in my experience, Queer people tend to be more sexually playful and liberated.
I would definitely agree with that. But also one of my goals was to not do a specifically Queer exhibition. It was important to me to cover straight people as well and I am glad that I was able to include them, even if it was more difficult for me to find them.
“I didn't realise how lovely this community is and how much they look after each other. It's not as threatening as people might think.”
Hearing about all the different fetishes and kinks, was there anything that even you were surprised to hear?
Yes, I recently interviewed a guy called Dan who has mobility issues. He was talking about his kinks and he would describe them very visually. He gets into this metal cage with latex on it and it sucks the air out of it. It's like a vacuum thing. He explained that his kink is ‘care’. The fact that as a disabled person, no one's ever looked after his body. When he’s in this restraint and an able bodied person is looking after him, the actual kink comes down to the fact someone is caring for his body. I was like, wow, that is pretty mind blowing.
What did you learn from the experience of creating this show?
I didn't realise how lovely this community is and how much they look after each other. It's not as threatening as people might think. I am hoping that people see a completely different side of this community after seeing the exhibition.
Thank you so much and I can’t wait to see the work!
VOYEUR is on view at Espacio Gallery 28th November – 4th December. You can book your tickets here. Please book ahead of your visit. Tickets to the show are pay want you want.
For more info about the show and to purchase prints, please visit Matt’s website.
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