The Blurry Sex of Bill Tong

I’m just going to come out and say something I usually don’t, but the photographs of Bill Tong are pretty hot. There isn’t any cageyness about the expression and capture of sexuality here. It’s not about an ideal of what sex could be like, it’s real and dirty sex that has been skillfully and artfully captured.

Tong explores a few different aspects of sexuality in his photography. Most of his shots are black and white and many are intentionally blurred or grainy. His images aren’t about showing the whole picture in graphic detail but rather key details and small portions. The rest of the scene and the stories are left for the viewer to fill in. Even in his collections called ‘stories’ in which a series of photographs are related to one another, the message is not explicit. There is still much room for interpretation and imagination.

Another stream of exploration is the juxtaposition of images- one sexual and one not. The relationship between the two images is not always clear, though the contrast can be jarring. Although to me most of these are not quite as successful as the straight sexual photographs, some of them are particularly appealing and work very well indeed. I also appreciate how scattered throughout Tong’s images are striking elements of fetish. It’s not the focus, but it’s clearly an integral part of his ideas of sexuality, and well integrated into his themes. If you like what you see here, you should definitely go have a look.

Article by Kayla

The website of Bill Tong