Darkside I: Photographic Desire and Sexuality Photographed

Edited by Urs Stahel. Text by Urs Stahel, Dominique Baqué, Elisabeth Bronfen, Martin Jaeggi, Stefan Zweifel, Henry Bond, Ulf Erdmann Ziegler.

Photography is present in all of the pubic and private areas of our lives. It is also found in seclusion--where it is “dark,” where we shut ourselves off from society or where an act necessarily excludes society. Sexuality--as eroticism, desire, fantasy and fetish--is one of the central drives behind all of man’s thoughts, actions and feelings. Frequently though, sexuality is deliberately minimized, relegated to the lowly precinct of simple, lustful entertainment or dismal deviation.
Photography stylizes lust, passion, power, violence and voyeurism. Wish and desire enter into a pact wherein fantasies push to be presented, seek exposure. Photography, with its own voyeuristic pull, uses the power of (photo) eroticism for its own purposes. Featuring 150 magnificently printed color plates and 100 choice duotone images by Nobuyoshi Araki, Richard Avedon, Hans Bellmer, Guy Bourdin, Nan Goldin, Philippe Halsman, Robert Mapplethorpe, Ryan McGinley, Ana Mendieta, Daido Moriyama, Helmut Newton, Catherine Opie, Jack Pierson, Man Ray, Terry Richardson, Collier Schorr, Laurie Simmons, Jürgen Teller, Miroslav Tichy, Wolfgang Tillmans, Inez van Lamsweerde, Andy Warhol, Bruce Weber, Joël Peter Witkin, Francesca Woodman and many others, this highly intelligent new collection proves photography to be one of the most important mediums for the presentation of the full range of human sexuality. This is the first in a series of books from the world-renowned Photomuseum Winterthur in Switzerland.