In the event you’ve ever browsed the categories on any mainstream gay porn site, some familiar groupings pop up time and time again. Whether you want ‘outdoor’, ‘solo’, or ‘age gap’ videos, we don’t often give these categories much thought – they’re just part and parcel of the digital experience. Of their recent photo book, SMUT, Volume II: Voyeurism, the London-based photographer Ezekiel exposes the inherent comedy of those categorisations, presenting a body of labor that pokes fun at how people enjoy their time on gay porn sites.

Ezekiel’s photography is aware that, in real life, we don’t experience sexual desire with such strict boundaries. “I wanted to emphasize the ludicrousness of those mainstream categories and the way they’ve essentially stripped voyeuristic behaviours of their true essence,” they explain in a conversation over email. “Authentic voyeurism hinges on the topic being unaware of being observed or recorded, but within the gay pornography that attempts to depict this, everyone seems to be an actor and complicit within the scenario.”

The book is split into various different photo stories, each with their very own distinct psychosexual subdivision. There’s ‘The Cruiser’, who spends his time skulking around London’s cottaging spots in various states of undress; there’s ‘The Checkup’, where a routine doctor’s appointment sees the patient get quite a bit greater than he bargained for; there’s even ‘The Spanking’, which is precisely what the name suggests. “Our primary goal for volume two was to immerse the audience within the unique gay worlds we’ve crafted, openly encouraging them to adopt a voyeuristic perspective,” says Ezekiel of the series. “It’s essentially a playful, tongue-in-cheek commentary on the eccentricities of gay pornography.”

Below, we chat to the photographer about their hilarious casting process, selecting the right location, and the theatrical nature of the gay porn experience.

To start with, when did you start taking photographs for the project? Was there a precise moment of inspiration?

Ezekiel: I began shooting for volume two in early September last yr. Our first story was with erotic filmmaker Sam Morris. During that summer, I got here across an ad for Voyeur House TV during a period of late-night adult film viewings – for research purposes, obviously – and was intrigued by this concept of porn creators live-streaming the inside their homes for hours on end.

I also got here across someone on TikTok doing a live sleep stream where viewers were tipping them in attempts to ‘wake them up’. I went down a rabbit hole of creators who would live-stream themselves throughout the night while they simply slept. This led me to research voyeurism as a part of human nature, how we’re naturally inquisitive creatures, with psychological tendencies to be somewhat voyeuristic.

Where do you’re thinking that these tendencies come from?

Ezekiel: Within the realm of gay culture, voyeurism has played a big role in our history, particularly during times when secrecy and concealment were crucial for our survival. I then began to query my very own relationship with voyeurism, as someone who’s conversant in and a part of gay culture. This was based on personal experiences and what I’ve witnessed through mainstream gay pornography.

“The indisputable fact that we managed to persuade my friend’s uncle to get spanked on camera is incredible to me” – Ezekiel

How did you forged the themes within the photo series? Was there a set of criteria that they needed to fulfil?

Ezekiel: We’re exploring tropes found inside Western pornography, so it made sense to incorporate individuals with real experience in that realm. I also desired to ensure that we forged individuals who appear like they may grace the pages of an everyday fashion publication. Choosing the suitable individuals to personify the characters was also a key consideration for me.

My absolute favourite casting selection was the models in ‘The Spanking’. For this story, we were aiming to subvert mainstream portrayals of spanking by reversing the facility dynamics. Tom, a mid-20s gay, is the spanker, while Mark, an older silver fox, becomes the spankee. I put up a casting call on my Instagram and received a DM from an old friend saying “my gay uncle can be perfect for this.” They were in France for a marriage, so my friend cornered his uncle through the holiday and convinced him to satisfy me. Just a few weeks later, Mark was on a train as much as London to be a component of this story. The indisputable fact that we managed to persuade my friend’s uncle to get spanked on camera is incredible to me.

What attracts you to an individual before photographing them? Is there a typical thread that each one these subjects share?

Ezekiel: The primary criterion for casting was: must be gay, for obvious reasons. I say this, but there’s one model on this book who’s straight, Chad Steel, a stripper and porn creator who features in ‘The Neighbour’. It’s in regards to the gay neighbour who fantasises in regards to the hetero businessman across the road, so I believed it could be fitting. It also pokes fun at the concept of straight porn actors doing ‘gay for pay’ to draw a wider audience.

What was the technique of selecting the locations for every individual shoot?

Ezekiel: Identical to the casting, selecting the best location was also incredibly essential with a view to sell the total fantasy. For our cover story ‘The Cruiser’, I did some research – online and thru word of mouth – to seek out probably the most notable cruising spots in London and Brighton. These ranged from the toilets at Liverpool Street Station, infamously known for cottaging, to the boys’s pond at Hampstead Heath, frequented by George Michael, to Clapham’s ‘Cockpond’. It was essential to me that these locations possessed their very own inherent beauty not only by context, but in addition physically.

The spot that has a special significance for me is where we shot our cover story, which was Duke’s Mound in Brighton. It was my first insight into gay culture. Duke’s Mound is often called being a spot where men solicit other men, so from a young age my parents warned me to not walk through this area at night. It was a full-circle moment returning to that hill and shooting a story for the book – definitely a subtle wink back to my younger self.

“I desired to reimagine the absurdity and performative nature of [gay porn] and splash in a touch of fashion to raise the theatrics” – Ezekiel

Each separate story almost has its own category, just like the categories you’d find on a gay porn site. Was this the intention when producing the shoots?

Ezekiel: Definitely. I wanted to emphasize the ludicrousness of those mainstream categories and the way they’ve essentially stripped voyeuristic behaviours of their true essence. Authentic voyeurism hinges on the topic being unaware of being observed or recorded, but within the gay pornography that attempts to depict this, everyone seems to be an actor and complicit within the scenario. They’re all in on the joke, so it type of turns right into a flamboyant, theatrical display. I desired to reimagine the absurdity and performative nature of those videos and splash in a touch of fashion to raise the theatrics.

Just like the cruising story, for instance, I’ve taken an act that’s typically very private and transformed it right into a public display, something meant to be observed reasonably than concealed. And with ‘The Sleepstream’ – which involves self-portraits of me watching a model ‘sleep’ in a bedroom in Paris – you’re witnessing someone who’s oblivious to being observed, while they themselves are watching one other person, who’s similarly unaware of being watched. Essentially, the voyeur has grow to be the spectacle. It’s very meta, and in addition just really silly.

Ezekiel’s SMUT, Volume II: Voyeurism is out there to pre-order here.

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