EROTIC BY NATURE - Hardcover

David Steinberg

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 094020813X ISBN 13: 9780940208131

Publisher: Down There Press, 1988

Synopsis

Erotic by Nature is a collection of visual and written erotica of unprecedented artistic quality and imagination, a celebration of the potential sex holds for deep joy, wonder, intimacy, and self-awareness. Directed to women and men of all ages and life styles, Erotic by Nature demonstrates that quality erotic photography, writing, and art can be intensely passionate and provocative without being pornographic -- without being stale or inflated, without manipulating sexual frustrations and fears, without depicting sex as an arena of male control and female submission. It is an affirmation of the importance, complexity, and subtlety of sexual feeling, a new genre of erotic imagery and writing that invites us to move beyond both pornography and sexual prohibition to welcome and explore the best of our erotic selves. 

Drawing from the work of 36 women and 25 men, aged 30 to 73, Erotic by Nature presents a wide range of erotic perspectives that take the reader from the sensual to the sexual, from the familiar to the novel, from the conventional to the daring, from lighthearted play to the deepest aspects of personal identity and interpersonal connection.

122 duotone photographs by Ron Raffaelli, Edna Bullock, Michael Rosen, Tee Corinne, Hella Hammid, Gypsy Ray, Tom Millea, Jack Morin, Vivienne Maricevic, Steven Baratz, Martha Casanave, Marc Chaton, Charlie Clark, Morgan Cowin, Greg Day, Clytia Fuller, Paul Johnson, Catharina Marlowe, Marjorie Michael,Terry Rozo, Stephen Siegel, Ron Terner. 15 short stories by Marco Vassi, Deena Metzger, Sandy Boucher, Michael Rubin, Susan St. Aubin, David Steinberg, C.M. Decarnin, H.M. Ruggieri, Lauren Crux, Norman Lavers, Donna Ippolito, Wheatsinger, Dreaminhawk. 17 drawings by Betty Dodson, Gary Epting, Julie Ball, Harriet Moore, Greg Sterling Gervais, Kaleiiliahi Henkelmann/Muller, Adele Aldridge. 38 poems by James Broughton, Lyn Lifshin, Lenore Kandel, Arthur Knight, Leslie Simon, David Steinberg, Carolyn Kleefeld, Rochelle Lynn Holt, Antler, Ron Koertge, Carolyn Kleefeld, Cheryl Townsend, Dreaminhawk, Virginia Love Long, Lani Kaahumanu, Lili Bita, Deborah Abbott, M. E. Max, Elliot Richman, Michael Hill, Magi Schwartz.

About this title

About the Author

David Steinberg is a photographer, author, editor, and publisher. His other books include Photo Sex: Fine Art Sexual Photography Comes of Age; Erotic by Nature: A Celebration of Life, of Love, and of Our Wonderful Bodies; The Erotic Impulse: Honoring the Sensual Self; and Fatherjournal: Five Years of Awakening to Fatherhood. He is Associate Editor of Sexuality and Culture magazine, and U.S. photo representative for Cupido magazine (Norway/Denmark). His photography and writing have appeared in such journals as Salon, Playboy, Boston Phoenix, Los Angeles Weekly, SF Weekly, The Sun, Libido, The Gay and Lesbian Review, On Our Backs, The Realist, Clean Sheets, Transgender Tapestry, Journal of Gender Studies, and Issues in Radical Therapy. He lives in San Francisco.

From the Inside Flap

Erotic by Nature is author/editor David Steinberg's response to pornography -- a collection of erotic material, addressed to both women and men, that is not only arousing but also honest, intimate, playful, and full of emotional warmth. Rejecting the notion that sexual infatuation need be sordid, Steinberg has assembled an imaginative volume of visual and written erotica that celebrates "the incredible potential sex has to bring us deep joy, wonder, intimacy, growth, and wisdom."

This collection of 122 duotone photographs, 17 drawings, 15 short stories, and 38 poems demonstrates that erotic art and writing can be passionate and provocative without being pornographic -- without being stale or inflated, without manipulating sexual frustrations and fears, without depicting sex as an arena of male control and female submission. It is an affirmation of the importance, complexity, and subtlety of sexual feeling, offering a new erotic genre that contrasts vividly with other material published to date.

Drawing from the work of 36 women and 25 men, aged 30 to 73, who openly and sensitively evoke the mystery and magic of sex, Erotic by Nature presents a wide range of erotic perspectives that take the reader from the sensual to the sexual, from the familiar to the novel, from the conventional to the daring, from light-hearted play to the deepest aspects of personal identity and interpersonal connection. By extolling the goodness, sanctity, and wholesome power of eroticism in our lives, Erotic by Nature calls us to move beyond both pornography and the sexual inhibitions of conventional art forms in order to welcome and explore the best of our erotic selves.

Edition details

• Publisher: Down There Press
• Publication date: 1988
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 094020813X
• ISBN 13: 9780940208131
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 100
• Editor: David Steinberg