fetish portraiture
fetish.
1. Something, such as a material object or a nonsexual part of the body, that arouses sexual desire and may become necessary for sexual gratification.
2. An abnormally obsessive preoccupation or attachment; a fixation.

portrait
1. a likeness of a person, esp. of the face


Portrait taking goes back to the inception of photography, and indeed was one of the first tasks for which photography was designed. Fetish portraiture is often misunderstood to the point of being tauted as pornography. In truth, it is a specific subject offshoot of portrait taking that does not focus on sexual acts, but rather on sexuality and sexual fixation.

That said, of course anything of a sexual nature is technically mature content, which is why you might notice if you submit to the fetish gallery here on deviantART, your work is automatically flagged as "mature."

However, sex and pornography do not go hand in hand, just as fetish photos and fetish portraits are not necessarily synonymous. This gallery is not the place for photos of feet and shoes just because there are foot and shoe fetishes, but rather is a great fit for portraits of people that especially feature or focus on the feet in the context of a person. Just an example, mind you, as feet are quite a common, widespread fetish.

Fetish in photography most often refers to portraits that feature the bondage/sado-masochistic sexual lifestyle as well as latex, whips and chains, gas masks, high heels, stockings, food, paint, body modification (tattoos and piercings, suspension), etc.


The gist: Snapshots of your girlfriend undressing are not fetish portraits in any artistic sense. Snapshots of your girlfriend's feet are also not fetish portraits. A fetish in and of itself does not automatically make an image fetish art. Images of objects related to fetish play are not fetish portraits because they do not involve people. Pretty straight-forward.




Here are some of my personal favorites from around the deviantART photography galleries: