‘Wonderlust’ Photos Expose Couples’ Most Intimate Moments (NSFW)

Golden Boy, 2013 © Sarah Anne Johnson. Courtesy Julie Saul Gallery, New York, and Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto.

Burnt, 2013 © Sarah Anne Johnson. Courtesy Julie Saul Gallery, New York, and Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto.

With her series Wonderlust, Winnipeg-based photographer Sarah Anne Johnson explores sexuality and intimacy, touching not just on desire and ecstasy, but also boredom and self-doubt. Johnson found subjects—friends and friends of friends—who she first photographed nude, then documented the sexual interactions of the couples who chose to participate in this way. To the prints, she used paint, ink, glitter, burning, scratching, gouging and retouching to visually communicate the intangible but palpable emotional aspects of the physical interactions depicted in the photos. The alterations also serve to add a layer of anonymity to her subjects, thereby adding a level of privacy to the intimate acts we are exposed to.

Wonderlust is currently on view at Stephen Bulger Gallery in Toronto through March 29, 2014.

Puzzle Pieces, 2013 © Sarah Anne Johnson. Courtesy Julie Saul Gallery, New York, and Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto.

Kissing Gold, 2013 © Sarah Anne Johnson. Courtesy Julie Saul Gallery, New York, and Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto.

Monster, 2013 © Sarah Anne Johnson. Courtesy Julie Saul Gallery, New York, and Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto.

Splatter Paint, 2013 © Sarah Anne Johnson. Courtesy Julie Saul Gallery, New York, and Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto.

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