Flagrante
Delicto by Will Santillo.
Published by Rosalbino Press. 2008. ISBN 978-0981740409
William
Santillo was born in New York, holds both Canadian and US citizenship,
lives in Toronto, Canada and spends his time working between Canada and
the USA. He graduated from the respected M.I.T. School of Architecture
and it was whilst at M.I.T. that he had the opportunity to study photography
under influential photographer, and founder of the prestigious publication
‘Aperture Press’, Minor White. Santillo later completed a
post-graduate architectural course at the University of Toronto, Canada
but he increasingly found "the camera's call stronger than the
drawing boards".
A
project that began in 2003, and published late last year, ‘Flagrante
Delicto’ - translated from the Latin as 'caught in the
act' - is the first volume in Santillo's proposed 'Risqué' trilogy.
The artist's stated aim being to “rise above the disembodied
explicit images commonly associated with erotica by creating images capable
of possessing a longevity to arouse both the mind and body.”
‘Flagrante
Delicto’ opens with a 2 page preface entitled ‘Artist’s
Notes’ in which Santillo sets out his reasoning behind this particular 
body
of work. For 25 years he pursued a career within architectural design
and commercial photography, having been exhibited in Berlin, Paris and
New York, but it was, he states, the infamous events of September 11th
2001 that caused him to rethink and re-evaluate the direction of his work.
He states that “two revelations immediately entered my mind” - the first being “the vulnerable nature of human existence…each
day should be approached with the awareness and urgency of the knowledge
that it could be your last” and the second that it seemed imperative
to him that artists should make an effort to “counteract the
raw energy of hatred and destruction unmasked on that and subsequent days”.
He wanted to project an “affirmation of life which is manifested
through the creative energies of art and passion.” To be honest
I am always a bit cynical of artist’s statements and, as a practicing
artist, I do my best to refrain from making them. I have read few that
added anything to a work, often they serve to distract from it and many
are simply pretentious. I wouldn’t call this the worst example by
any means, indeed it is very informative; but placing a direct connection
to this body of work and events such as 9/11 I do find tenuous at best.
Where Santillo is on much firmer ground, particularly with this monograph,
is the challenge he sets himself: “would it be possible to create
photographs that were both sexually explicit, yet equally artistic and
erotically provocative?”
When
it came to selecting the models Santillo set down two basic rules – “that the people involved in the scene would know each other before
the particular photo-session” and that “all the participants
would be enthusiastic volunteers, rather than paid models.” This last ‘rule’ was important to him as he felt the hire
of professional models would be less natural and result in a performance
rather than an “unscripted opportunity for genuine emotional
and physical fulfillment… …to manifest authentic instances
of connection.” He also states that the images were neither
rehearsed or directed and are therefore “pure documentary photography” - an interesting take on reportage, certainly taking it out of its comfort
zone and indeed many images, within this monograph, could be argued to
have fallen into the category that Henri Cartier-Bresson would have called "the decisive moment." Though it might be argued by
some that the work might carry a little bit more weight, in the genre
of reportage, if some of the subjects before the lens had been a little
less than the perfect examples of the human form on display here, but
that is a small gripe.
The
final images were “converted to a unique tri-toned black and
white reminiscent of a traditional sepia tinting” but no other
digital manipulation took place – all visual 
effects
being “captured in camera.” Many of the images exhibit
subject motion blur, vignetting and/or differential focusing, similar
to that produced by the use of a Holga or Diana toy camera, and this lends
greatly to the spontaneous dynamism of the work on display. The sexual
acts before his lens are varied and include heterosexual, bisexual, homosexual
couples, threesomes and foursomes. One is allowed to see and think beyond
the subjects themselves - the images are both the fetish and the sensual
object. The passion inherent within these images communicates from the
page to resound within the viewer. It is testament to Santillo's abilities
as an artist, and the trust he shares with his subjects, that he so effortlessly
creates a doorway through which each image becomes both erotic and sensual
to the viewer – whatever their sexual orientation; an achievement
of some note that alone is worthy of our applause.
The
images are, with but a few exceptions, displayed one per page leaving
plenty of space for each image to breath. ‘Flagrante Delicto’ is a limited edition, heavy weight, hard backed, quality monograph,
of only a thousand copies, produced and designed by Santillo and within
its 156 pages are 125, beautifully reproduced, tri-toned photographs with
a few colour images thrown into the mix. To return to the challenge Santillo
set himself: has he created a set of photographs that are both sexually
explicit, yet equally artistic and erotically provocative? To be honest;
a small selection of the images don't quite make it out of the standard
fare, they lack a little something that would set them apart and would
have been best edited out, but, on the whole, Santillo has achieved what
he set out to do and should be congratulated.
Santillo
believes that the best erotic photography “speaks to our primal
instincts. It feeds the soul and allows us, for a brief moment, to touch
with abandon our essence.” I share this view and believe that
erotic art is finally and confidently starting to come out of the shadows
to take its rightful place as a serious subject worthy of intellectual
artistic study and ‘Flagrante Delicto’ is
helping towards this goal. I look forward to future volumes within this
trilogy.
Review by
Christopher John Ball
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