Headshots by Aura Rosenberg

Aura Rosenberg is concerned with the visible expression of sexual desire. Capturing the moment of orgasm on camera is usually reserved for the voyeur, the hidden witness. What Rosenberg has done is present herself as the public’s witness via the camera, inviting a number of men into her studio to reenact the ecstasy of release, the moment when potency and vulnerability coexist. The result is a collection of extraordinary photographs that run the gamut of psychosexual expression. Whether her subjects were really giving their best shot or simply indulging in sublime fakery is just one of the very pertinent questions these pictures throw out. In acting out their most abandoned sexual and emotional moment before her lens, Rosenberg’s subjects invite us to step beyond the traditional limits of voyeurism. These beautiful, curious and erotic images reserve the traditional male-on-female gaze and relieve it of some of its associations with misogyny and perversity. Writers Lynn Tillman and Gary Indiana reflect together on the experience of witnessing these photographs.