VENUS INFERRED

Men and women tumble around together in bed, in underwear or sweaters or nothing. They snuggle, look over each other’s shoulders, in the mirror, out the window. They’re enraptured, annoyed, tired, turned on.

Every glance tells a story.

There are no physical restraints here — only that emotionally bound look, the love-shackled glare of the guy leaning on his girlfriend’s back, staring hard into space. — Ada Calhoun

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For more work by Laura Letinsky:
www.houkgallery.com
www.moniquemeloche.com
www.kusseneers.com
www.renaissancesociety.org

RESTLESS

My nights have been filled with these sorts of visions — epic, lavish, monumental and gaudily hued, which is why photographer Merkley???’s series makes me feel like I’m having a waking dream. “I was raised Mormon in Utah,” he says. “Went on a Mormon mission to Brazil. Masturbated the whole time.”

He also blogs in a style similar to that of his frenetic photography, which may have been instilled by his family life. “I have eighteen siblings and my parents have both been married three times each,” he says.

“My great-great grandfather was Joseph Smith’s bodyguard. Now I photograph nude women.” Thank God. — Will Doig

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For more photography from Merkley???, visit his website: www.threequestionmarks.com

LADIES LOUNGE

Nice hotel comforters are aggressively pretty and casually indestructible. The main model in this gallery by frequent Nerve contributor George Pitts has similar qualities. At once intense and lackadaisical, she arranges herself in front of tasteful wallpaper, atop clean sheets and flower print bedcovers, in and out of lingerie.

You see just enough of her style — the bottoms of cowboy boots, the frayed jeans, the tiny bow on the black panties, the extensive tattoos, to get a sense that she’s always the hippest girl in the room. And you can tell from her measured gaze and enthusiasm for the full-length mirror that she’s been around this particular block plenty of times, but isn’t even close to tiring of the game. There’s certainly no getting bored of her. — Ada Calhoun.

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Phosphorographs

“I’ve noticed women can be their most beautiful when they’re nude, once they grow accustomed to it. There’s no lying at that point, no other consideration.

And they get a buzz from the realization that someone else can find them so worthy of attention in such a basic state.”-Richard Lohr

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To view more of Richard Lohr’s work, please visit: www.richardlohr.com

V FOR VOYEUR

“Even if a subject or a moment is not beautiful, it is an important and interesting moment to describe,” writes photographer Marni Horwitz in her artist’s statement. Indeed, in some of her photos, physical attractiveness seems an afterthought. As in sex, it’s the intimacy of this series that provides the heat. “I never feel these images are voyeuristic,” writes Horwitz, “because I am always collaborating with the person I am photographing.” At times, she seems to be almost right on top of her subjects, or under them, an integral part of the action while remaining a separate, objective observer. “Being alone is an important part of sexuality,” she says. “It is where so much desire and fantasy grow.” — Will Doig

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To see more of Marni Horwitz’s work,please visit: www.marnihorwitz.org

SLOVAKIAN IDOLS

These women are giantesses. All of them seem to be to be huge somehow — their eyes bulging, their backs like freeways.

One is holding a stone cat that looks petrified to be trapped in the clutch of the leviathan behind it.

Jano Horak, a Slovakian photographer, has photographed them in a way that makes them appear imposing. “I’m engaged in provocative glamour,” he writes in his artist’s statement. Consider us provoked. — Will Doig

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For more photography from Jano Horak, please visit: http://www.horak.sk.

MYSTERY WOMEN

There’s a horror-movie sexiness to Aaron Hawks’ photography — not the knife-wielding cheerleader sexiness of ’80s horror, but an older and grimier brand.

Presumably, the brunette in the black gloves has telekinetically reconfigured the furniture, and the girl by the pond crawled up from the bottom.

Hawks builds his own sets, and his details tell stories.  It’s an odd evocation, but sex and horror share a lot of common ground: transmutation, resurrection, and most of all, the mysteries of the body. — Peter Smith

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For more photography from Aaron Hawks, visit his website: www.aaronhawks.net

REST STOP

When appropriated for sex, it’s very much a third partner.

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For more information about Glenn Glasser, visit his website: www.glennglasser.com

SHADOW DANCING

There’s something sinister about K. Leo’s photos, something both stainless steel clean and yet mysteriously grimy.

At first, beguiled by the pneumatic breasts and abdomens, you may pass blithely over the taxidermied animals quietly inserted into the sequence. It’s only later that you notice the narrative, the model ascending the stairs to an uncertain fate, or the one who hovers in a black fluid.

Maybe she’s about to be stuffed and mounted. Come to think of it, there’s an ominous glow to the eyes in these close-ups, like they’re made of glass — a disturbing subtext of manipulation and artificial perfection. Something these models probably know a bit about. — Peter Smith

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For more photography by K Leo, visit his website.

GEO-ANATOMY

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For information about the book from which these photos are excerpted, visit www.abbeville.com