There is electricity in the photographer’s eye. He greets us shirtless. He is slender, 1.82 meters, with dark hair, eyes of an innocent demon set underneath thick brows, and a stubbly, dimpled chin. His floors are wooden. There are ropes hanging from the ceiling. Two of them suspend a thick bamboo pole horizontally parallel to the floor. From a third hangs a silver, metal ring. His walls are covered in framed photographs. The light is dim. There are plants atop a newly bought, antique wooden butcher block table. There are two women sitting on the balcony. One with short hair. The other is heavily tattooed. The photographer pours us wine. Introductions are made. More people arrive. A young man in a cutoff black shirt. There is no sun in the sky, but it is light out. The effects of late Summer nights. It’s just cold enough to be uncomfortable in a tee shirt. It’s just warm enough to wear only a tee shirt. We are at the bottom of the U of an apartment complex on the top floor. There is a group of elegant diners just five balconies away, on the second floor. Their conversation will never be as interesting as ours. We are waiting for more people to arrive. There are questions flying around the table. What is authentic pornography? Does Erika Lust make authentic pornography? How can we create realistic BDSM scenes using film, video? Why does it even matter? Is the masturbator seeking authenticity in their fantasy? Is sex just an escape from reality? Isn’t that what we’re all looking for? To be removed from our self and placed into a scene, something that would never, that could never happen in the real world? Then why does pornography need to be authentic? Why does it need to feel authentic? Can’t we just close the door, shut the curtains, do whatever smutty, dirty, disgusting thing we want to do with our partner out of sight, out of mind? Can’t we just walk around as human beings and never talk about these hidden corners of our lives? Is it just the fact that we are treating women like shit in pornography that makes it shit? Isn’t that what men want in a sexual fantasy? To objectify their partner? To play with them as if they were playing with a toy? Isn’t that what men want? Isn’t that what the patriarchy has taught us to want? It’s not about who is controlling whom. It’s not about power and submission. It’s about the portrayal of these subjects. It’s about the respect that is conveyed through the lens. This is why Erika Lust is making interesting pornography. Because she can see how to transform our perceptions of what it means to be sexy and to be human at the same time. She doesn’t remove the humanity from the pornography, even when it is dirty as hell. The photographer sees this as well. Every shot he takes strives in this direction. Every…