Below, you can read the interview and see some other photographies by this ex-attorney and soon-to-be advertisement writer. You can find more pictures on: www.flickr.com/motti/

1) Please, introduce yourself and tell us about you relationship with photography. Did you always think about being a professional or it was a hobby that became serious?

Well, I’m not a professional by far. Actually I was a frustrated attorney and needed a hobby. In the beginning of 2006 I had a trip to England and came out quite angry at my photos, which sucked. So I started reading about potography on the web, learned a few techniques and, then, the hobby got serious… very serious.

By the end of 2006, I seriously considered dropping my job at law office to work with photojournalism. I was doing assignments for a photo agency whenever I had any free time. I also started doing some architecture shots for a friend. But after a little while I got tired of it and basically abandoned photography. Now I quit my job and I’m studying to become a ad copywriter, and I’m also slowing creeping back to liking taking photos (but not for money!).

2) On your Flickr, there are different kind of pictures, some more jornalistic, some other more artistics, and there are the erotic ones. What is your relationship to or influence by erotism in your art and expression? What attracts you in making nude pictures or using erotic elements?

It’s a difficult relationship, mostly because of my personality. First off, I’m scared to death of looking pretentious. Second, I’m scared to death of being inconvenient. It’s a critical combination that mostly scraps off any erotic elements in my pictures.

Here’s an example: in these pictures I made for a class with Gal Oppido, there were lots of chances to take pictures which were borderline photography. But if you look at the flickr photostream, you’ll see there’s barely any frontal nude. When I was shooting, I eliminated most of the “bold” crops… When I was editing, I just about excluded them. It’s hard to explain, but some of it is me knowing friends, family etc used to look at my flickr from time to time, and I definitely didn’t want anyone to be scared off from doing it, specially if their boss was behind them…

Once I took some pictures of a girl I was going out with. It was nothing special, definitely not elaborated, but there were one or two shots in which you could see she was in her panties. Then I was even scared of leaving them on the computer, at the risk of someone hacking in and the photos leaking on the web. Ridiculous.

Aside from those personal constraints, I’m also afraid of being appelative. Since some of my more erotic pictures on flickr have 1,500 views and ones I think are nice have 28…

Well, I really like erotic photography and would love to shoot some more. It’s beautiful and has an immediate impact. But it’s hard for me to have the chance to do it and, after that, the courage to work on the photos. To make matters worse, I’m not much into studio photography, I hate having to set up the lights and so on. I’m more into shooting spontaneous stuff. But if/when I manage to solve all this, I’ll love to make some more erotic work.

3) More and more, sex and erotism are used in marketing and publicity. Do you think they are just trying to sell, and sex sells, or it shows a change in the way society faces sex? Specially the brazilian society, with so much ambiguity: sex and yet, puritane?

I think it’s a bit of each, but I’m willing to bet heavily on that change in society. Well, I’m 28 and I can see a radical change from ten years ago. This generation immediately next to mine, which is about 22-23 nowadays, deals with sex in a different, looser way. And, from what I can tell, the younger generation is even more loose.

I remember that when I was in college and had about 20, our goal when we went out was to see two girls kissing each other, and that NEVER happened. Well, nowadays,…

On the other hand, there’s a bigger paranoia in relation to certain issues. Some time ago I saw the “My first Valisére“, a Brazilian commercial for bras from the 80s. You can see the breasts from the actress, and she had about 14. Imagine how big a scandal would that be today.

4) What defines Erotic Art and Pure Pornography? Which elements define that and how do you like or face them?

The difference was pretty clear to me. Pornography aimed at arousing, a instinct-based feeling. And Erotic Art had a aesthetical concern, to provoke an intellectual sensation. And, for the record, I like both.

But then I attended a workshop with Magnólia Costa (Brazilian art critic) and she was referring to some Renaissance paintings which had small dimensions, and she said: “Why do you think these painting are so small? Because they’re supposed to be at the guy’s bedroom, not at a dining room! Check it out: naked women!” That got me pretty confused.

Anyway, I don’t think there’s a reason to have a big discussion about it, specially from an artistic standpoint. What difference does it make? I think this only matters in a legal discussion, if you’re defining ratings for a movie or an exhibit — erotic or pornographic? So, as a former lawyer, I think I’ll steer clear of it…

5)Most people have a public life, an A side, and a Secret Life, a B side. Usually, the B side is connecte to erotic issues and most people represses or hides it from society, the family or even from theirselves. Yet, more and more people use internet to show and extrapolate this B side. How do you deal with that and your A and B sides?

I deal pretty well with the Side A. As for the Side B… I guess pretty badly.

I believe in certain standards which probably don’t go well with this Side B, and it makes for a nice conflict. In the Side A, I think women must be treated with lots of attention and respect and so on. And this is not always good or convenient in the Side B. It’s complicated.

Anyway, I think it’s great that the web exists as a way to let the Side B get some fresh air. It’s clearly not the ideal situation, but it’s at least fun.

6) Which other artists using erotic elements do you like or is influenced by?

Yay, an easy question.

I really like Edward Hopper. He’s not properly erotic (or even vaguely erotic), but he uses a lonely atmosphere which reminds me of intimacy, which is pretty close to eroticism. And then Man Ray, mostly for the violence and extreme of the things he does, which then has an erotic tone. So Hopper is Side A and Man Ray is Side B, how’s that?

In Brazil, I have to go with Julia Moraes, which has a very brave work (I’m envious) and the guys from Cia. de Foto. Their flickr streams are awesome.

The portuguese version of this interview can be read in Entrevista com o fotógrafo Ricardo Motti

We asked Tracie to give A Vida Secreta a small interview and the young woman - sympathetic and gracious - said ok and allowed us to use some pictures that you can see in this interview and in the header of some of AVS pages.

Enjoy!

(Thanks Tracie, keep peeking!)

Tracie, Diana, Lust and Decadence

1) Please, introduce yourself. Tell us about you relationship with photography, if you are professional or if is this a hobby you take seriously , and how it has started.

[laughs] I am definitely not a professional! It’s just something I picked up. It’s one of those art forms that has the element of instant gratification (especially if it’s digital). I can paint and draw - but have no patience for either, which is why I have very few pieces. But photography - photography can capture life in its raw most true form. There is something very intimate and warm about life that inspires me to want to always remember.

2) In your Flickr album, sometimes you show yourself in your daily life with your friends, family or even you in your bedroom with a sweet or a sexy look. But here is the Decadence Element, which is like you showing the way you see the world, the society, and the way you feel about sex and erotism. Do you see yourself like a voyeur or like an exhibitionist? How does erotism influence your art?

Honestly, I wish erotism influenced my life more [lights a cigarette]. I think my piece on Decadence was a form of acting out. I felt I was starved for it in sense. I also wanted to bring it out in the public’s eye, because it isn’t something we [Americans] are faced with everyday. I mean shit, sodomy is outlawed in Texas. Not that I was running around taking it in ass. I’m just simply saying. I wanted the public’s reaction - to bring it out on the streets, because I’m comfortable with my body and so should everyone else.

A lot of my inspiration for that particular piece came from a class I took my senior year of college called the “Modern Art and the Idea of Decadence.” The class was sexually charge, I mean, masturbation, homosexuality, even child nudity. It crossed all boundaries. The idea of decadence is a conservatives’ view that this is the decay of society, this art is the decay of society, when in fact I think it is the underbelly of society screaming forth. Perhaps the shackles of religion and financial institutions place this type of pressure on society that forces us to act out in ways the status quo would rather that we didn’t. I do believe there is a point of where it can, in fact, go to far. It’s a delicate balance.

But then again, you could look at Ancient Rome in comparison to today‘s standards of beauty, even sex. They had civilization, good infrastructure and law and they were open with their sexuality in all areas of public life. You could walk into someone’s home and see a man painted on a wall in the foyer holding a balance with coins on one side and his cock resting on the other. People wore rings with sexual positions proudly displayed on them. If you want to talk about the change in perception of beauty, their fertility goddess was supple and in today’s standards overweight. I find beauty in that. She radiates life. In one of my pieces she is being slain, because society has murdered her and made women like her self-conscious. None of that should matter, the human body is beautiful and should be celebrated in all its forms.

I also think, in my upbringing, the topic of sex has always been a closed subject as are politics and religion and this became a way or an outlet to explore and announce myself to the world.

3) More and more, sex and erotic elements are used in marketing and publicity: catalogs, calendar, tv and magazine advertisements. Do you think they are just trying to sell more and more, or is the society the way it faces erotism?

Sex sells. There’s a commercial for tires and washing machines and they some how found a way to get a scantily clad female in the their 30 second air time. They know what they’re doing irrelevant as it may be. Even the porn industry has an undercurrent of influence. Because they are the highest grossing media in terms of sales, they determine if we are blue ray or high-def or VHS. It makes sense. It speaks to our most primal and basic needs. To be wanted, desired and to procreate. And yes, definitely, the way sex is portrayed in the media mirrors a movement in society as a status quo; I wouldn‘t say as a whole.

4) What is the line that defines Erotic Art and Trash Pornography? What are the elements that defines this thin line and how do you like them?

I am not a fan of “Trash Pornography,” personally. It’s like the difference between a prostitute and your wife/girlfriend. It’s cheap. Sure you’re going to get your jollies off either way, but one is less satisfying and more deviant than the other. “Trash Pornography” like a prostitute will leave you feeling empty.

5) Secret and Public lives. Most people have a kind of A side they show to the world and a B side they don’t show society, family and sometimes they even hide from themselves! (or show just in internet) Most of time the B sides are related to sex and erotic matters. What do you think about people hidding their B side lives, living a half-life and how do you manage these sides?

Wow. I’m a private person. Yes, I have my half-naked, very exposed erotic self on the internet, but the people in my day-to-day life, like my coworkers or people I see out on the streets, even my family do not have access to my site. The rest of the world does. I know people won’t appreciate it and I also know that in a professional world and living in a Christian society it is looked down upon and so be it. But I do not want to subject myself to a certain type of discrimination - if you want to call it that. I am more than these pictures. These pictures are my art and my form of expression. I would rather share it with those who can appreciate it - like yourself.

I will also say having two lives in a way is devious and a little bit thrilling. I like having a secret life and I like letting those close to me experience it. I consider it a form of intimacy.

6) What other artists that use erotic elements do you like and have influence on your works?

Robert Mapplethorpe was my main influence for my Decadence piece. Hands-down. Outside of that I am part of that underbelly that wishes to explore and be exposed - almost like the curiosity of Pandora. I have my limits as a subject, but I do not have limits or prejudice as a photographer. I have many friends who also share the same sentiment. I think it frees us.

More Interviews to come

The portuguese version of this interview can be read in Entrevista com Diana of Tripoli - Autora de Decadence: Element. Soon, we will publish more interviews, given by photographers with erotic themes and element. Stay tuned!