<div dir="ltr"><div><div><div>Alan, are you not assuming the photos are all of women though many are? There is at least one among these where the figure is a man. Also, I understand these are pictures from a much longer series. The photos reminded me of <span tabindex="-1" id=":1gg.1" style="" class="">selfies</span> also, I think because they are not voyeuristic. They are intimate. The photographer seems somehow to be in front of the lens also sharing the experience.<br><br></div>Peter, could you elaborate more why in an extreme world pleasure needs no defence?<br><br></div>Ciao,<br></div>Murat<br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Nov 1, 2016 at 8:20 PM, Peter Valente <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:p.valente.film@gmail.com" target="_blank">p.valente.film@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------<br>
Hi Alan,<br>
<br>
I have no problem with 'selfies.' Of course, my own photos are not<br>
'selfties' since no one in the photos took pictures of themselves. I<br>
photographed all of them. But I can imagine ways in which 'selfies'<br>
can be used to make interesting images. And I can't remember his name,<br>
but a filmmaker shot an entire film on a smartphone and it won some<br>
award in Berlin. I shot an entire film with the camera focused on<br>
myself.<br>
<br>
I don't think my images are 'pornographic.' And there's an interesting<br>
writer I'm translating, Guillaume Dustan, whose extreme depictions of<br>
sex acts and drug use are without explanation, or defense, or<br>
rationalization. Edmund White's blurb on one of Dustan's books:<br>
"...the book features a narrator whose wants are to fuck, listen to<br>
house music and visit London. 'Let the Good Times Roll' is the motto<br>
of this ecstatic celebration of a way of life unaffected by the<br>
demands of safe sex and queer politics."<br>
<br>
Why only women? I found the images interesting. The nudes happen to be<br>
of women. But admittedly my photos exist in a kind of extreme world,<br>
you might even call it an ideal space, where pleasure is never<br>
political and needs no defense.<br>
<br>
Thanks for the questions, Alan.<br>
<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br>
Peter<br>
</font></span><div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><br>
<br>
<br>
On Tue, Nov 1, 2016 at 6:11 PM, Alan Sondheim <<a href="mailto:sondheim@panix.com">sondheim@panix.com</a>> wrote:<br>
> ----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------<br>
><br>
><br>
> Hi Peter, I have a couple of questions. What do you 'think about' selfies?<br>
> And do you see the pornographic images as a doubling in a sense, and why<br>
> women only? This isn't a critical query; I'm really curious.<br>
><br>
> Thanks for the description and images, Alan<br>
><br>
> On Tue, 1 Nov 2016, Peter Valente wrote:<br>
><br>
>> ----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------<br>
><br>
><br>
> ==<br>
> email archive <a href="http://sondheim.rupamsunyata.org/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://sondheim.rupamsunyata.<wbr>org/</a><br>
> web <a href="http://www.alansondheim.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.alansondheim.org</a> / cell <a href="tel:718-813-3285" value="+17188133285">718-813-3285</a><br>
> music: <a href="http://www.espdisk.com/alansondheim/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.espdisk.com/<wbr>alansondheim/</a><br>
> current text <a href="http://www.alansondheim.org/ug.txt" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.alansondheim.org/<wbr>ug.txt</a><br>
> ==<br>
><br>
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</div></div></blockquote></div><br></div>