| I like humoristic art, so I use this method to express my ideas. Sociology and urban anthropology are useful methods for observing humans in society. But when they try to explain the relation between human and society, logics of common language turn to become useless. This is the one of the main reasons I’ve chosen humor as an artistic language to express ideas. I know that art cannot solve social problems, but I just want to present the problems through art, and I believe this is the real role of art. Even though the power of art is expressed thorough the humor, sociology and urban anthropology cannot replace art and artistic language. | 
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Mikel Marton
Mikel Marton, He-Venus (self-portrait). Courtesy of the artist.
I have always found erotica to be the most stimulating type of activism. It appeals to every aspect of myself: the artist, the dreamer, the lover, the exhibitionist, and the rebel. As the artist, it only made sense to explore these aspects of my sexuality and myself from both sides of the camera. With responsibility to my vision, through my eyes (and body) I want to express the male body in a challenging, yet sensitive way—giving the viewer a unique opportunity to step inside a stylized version of my own sexual fantasies.
As a dreamer, my escapist nature and interest in the metaphysical have heavily influenced my work. My dreamlike constructions are all parts of larger narratives that range from the real, to the surreal. Much like early erotic photographers such as Gloeden from the late 1900s, I frame classical portraits, and use mythological influences to turn my subjects into gods. Expanding upon the idea that the body is a temple, I have been able to closer examine sexuality in a way that transcends the physical with the physical.
Being rather amorous, I like to compose stories that are love affairs, or sexual experiences that confront the viewer directly. I am very sexually direct in my personal life, but also very sensitive, and aim to represent an honest and arousing part of that. I am not representing all male sexuality, but I am doing my part by representing that part of my own, which conveys an often-unseen aspect of male sexuality that is both fearless and romantic.
My models aren’t the only ones making love to the camera, as I do a fair amount of self-portraits. Exposing myself as I would expose other models is to give up the dominant power that many photographers thrive on. In front of the camera rather than behind the camera I take on a whole new sexually submissive power, bringing a new context to the relationship between model and photographer.
Erotica as activism, that tender line between art and pornography, excites the rebellious nature that I acquired growing up in a sexually oppressive religious environment. I have always refused to be censored, and refused to be told what “being a man” is. This isn’t about gay or straight; it’s about breaking down the terrible social stigma associated with male sexuality. I believe I can prove the male form as an artistic equal to the female form, bring the erect penis out from the shadows, and show it as a valuable symbol of sexuality. I’m here not only to represent my own vision and my own experience with sensitivity, but to also make the statement: This is the male body, and why do we have a problem with it?
