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Click to see:
WLTF #0
Contributors
 ©Sophia Neuhaus
©Zrep
©Miss Brendalina Badchild
©Wiros
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Editorial by Rodrigo Novaes
The quality of an image depends 100% on the quality of the gaze upon it.
The other day someone asked me, ‘Why did you decide to do WLTF?’ and the question made me stop for a while, I didn’t have a ready answer, and I felt a bit put-on-the-spot as I felt that maybe I should have a snappy, intelligent or zany answer to give, but alas I didn’t. At the time I gave several high note explanations and reasons as to why I think we need a project like this, because pornography is so boring, and how no one ever deals with concepts of sexual desire in an interesting way that is not stuck in a ghetto mentality, or how the photographic image has become the main currency in contemporary communication especially between individuals online, etc et al. But now, in hindsight, I think I should have just said that I’m doing it because I want to see images that excite me and because I want to talk to all of the interesting people who make them, or in other words, I just want a bit of fun!
I am really not doing it for any high intellectual reasons, and if I am asking everyone to be honest about their inner-most desires and to show them to me, then I think I have to be honest with myself too – the concept of WLTF is something that turns me on. I think I was born a voyeur, but a voyeur with discernment, as I like to believe. lol. So just the idea of being the recipient of other people’s objects of desire really rocks my world! And to be able to share these with even more people, well that just puts the cherry on top for me.
The idea of WLTF was born out of sheer accident as most things do; it was an unexpected pregnancy, but a very much-wanted one. A few serendipitous events led me to it – as it often happens and before I could blink I was already knee-deep in the project, and enjoying every minute of it. So, yes, now I am having fun! Although, don’t get me wrong, it also entails lots of very hard and strenuous hours of work. Yes, it does.
Ok, so, I am not going to go on an Oscar-speech-trip here, but I do feel that I have to start by saying thank you to everyone who has supported the project during its first four months of baby-life (yes, I have lots of pregnancy, baby and child metaphors – so you get it, this is my new baby…), without whom this project would never have left the page. I don’t want to analyse as to why it has worked so far, but the concept of WLTF seems to have hit an universal nerve and the response has been nothing short of amazing from all corners of the globe (except a few corners that we couldn’t reach via the net), and WLTF #0 is a good illustration of that. All-in-all, it has been very impressive, which is precisely what continues to spur me on. We still haven’t managed to resolve the all-important-these-days money issues, but I am hoping that with this first edition online we will have a more favourable response from possible sponsors. So once again this is why I am so grateful to all of the first contributors who decided to trust me with their work – after all guys most of you don’t even know who I am!
As you may have noticed the publication of this edition online is a slight change in tactics in order to help raise the money to go to print. The main objective is to exist in print, four times a year, with regular contributors expanding on their creativity and desiring gaze. But to get there we need to show the world first what we are about and that is where the net comes in. The costs of putting an issue like this together to be published only online are very small and that means that an independent artist like me can afford it. However, this also means that I have to do all the work, but hey I am a Capricorn, so the opportunity to save some money, AND, learn something new are probably my favourite past-times!
I did all of the site design and programming for the site, which I know is not the most sophisticated but as an initial platform has worked very well, and once the cash rolls in, then we can be more elaborate. But I’m not even sure that I want something too elaborate, simplicity always works better and for me the structure must be near invisible in order to allow the images to be seen at their best, too much will end up obscuring or detracting from the main object of WLTF – your images.
I tried to do the editing and design of WLTF #0 online as close as possible to how I would like it to be when it eventually goes to print. Essentially one image per page, and horizontal images across two pages. This idea is to generate juxtaposition and dialogue between images from different people. To me juxtaposition is everything - that is when it all happens for me. An image by itself can have several different readings but when it is put next to another image a third meaning is revealed, and it is the in-between-the-lines reading that I am striving for.
So if I was pressed against the wall and had to say in a few words, what WLTF is all about, well I would have to say that it is about the subjective expression of our inner-most desires and all of the different readings that the juxtaposition of these images can potentially generate. Hmm maybe I should have said that to the lady… but I am saying it to you, so that’s what counts.
Ok I don’t think I have anything else to say for now, but if you have anything you’d like to ask, please feel free to do so. I really do look forward to all of your comments and feedback. If you think of any constructive criticisms to make, go ahead, we can take it!
Now put your headphones on and enjoy! WLTF #0
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