A photographer has captured women’s faces before, during and after they orgasm to lift the lid on real female sexuality.
Brazilian photographer Marcos Alberti said he took the pictures to show a true female orgasm is nothing like the spectacles you see in porn.
“I wanted to talk about the taboo topic in a fun and light hearted way,” he told HuffPost UK.
“I want to show the reality of life, because this is not the way we see orgasms in television or the internet. This is real.”
Alberti’s latest series, ‘The O Project’, follows his popular series ‘3 Glasses Later’, which showed what people look like after drinking three glasses of wine.
‘The O Project’ was created with Smile Makers, a sexual toy brand on a mission to normalise female sexuality and empowering women to celebrate desire.
Alberti captured the facial expressions of more than 20 women before, during, and after they used a personal sex toy.
The four photos unveil the slow or, in some cases, rapid progression of each woman’s facial changes as she reaches and recovers from orgasm.
The women who appear in the series all responded to a Facebook advert originally posted by Smile Makers, appealing for individuals to take part.
They span various ethnicities and nationalities, coming from seemingly more sexually liberated countries, such as the USA and France, to more stereotypically conservative communities, like China and Singapore.
The underlying message of the series is that “all women deserve to be in control of their sexuality, no matter their background”.
One of the women photographed, Cassie, said “excited doesn’t even cut it” in terms of how she feels about the pictures.
“I’m thrilled and I am empowered. We are sending the message to women everywhere that this is not a shameful secret. This is real, it is raw and it is beautiful,” she said.
Another participant, Camille, added: “Taking part in this project was great because the message behind is to let every woman know their sexuality is not a taboo and that enjoying a full sexual life is a good start.
“Women should not be afraid about taking pleasure. It can bring happiness, well being, it’s an important part of everyone’s life.
“I’m happy I did it, because it was quite a challenge for me, and I feel myself more entitled to explore my own sexuality.”
While the project has a serious message, Alberti also encourages viewers to embrace the silly side of orgasms.
“I hope the viewers have fun looking at it [the series], and they can see themselves in that situation,” he said.
“I want woman to feel free and start to talk about it.”
In a statement, Fan Yang, global brand manager of Smile Makers, added: “Female sexuality is more often shrouded in shame and secrecy. Our partnership with Marcos allowed us to create this series to upend that social stigma around female sexuality, and encourage the normalisation of female pleasure.
“All the women who modelled were in awe of their photos, especially the final shot where they were glowing and radiant.
“That final shot, of a strong female grinning into the camera, is exactly what we want people to see. We hope that everyone viewing this project will feel more confident about their bodies and sexuality. All it takes is one smile at a time.”
Check out photos from the series below or visit Marcos Alberti’s website to see more of his work.
