David Steinberg (journalist and photographer): Difference between revisions

| image = David Steinberg, author, photographer.jpg

| caption = Self-Portrait, 2014

His erotic photography has appeared in numerous exhibits and shows. In 2010 the Leydig Trust (which sponsors the [[Sexual Freedom Awards]]) declared Steinberg to be Erotic Photographer of the Year<ref name="sexual-freedom-awards">{{cite web |title=Sexual Freedom Awards |url=https://www.sexualfreedomawards.co.uk/highlights-2 |website=Sexual Freedom Awards |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref> In 2011 the [[Seattle Erotic Art Festival|Seattle Erotic Arts festival]] designated Steinberg as a "Master of Erotic Art" for "impactful photography (which) focuses on capturing the diversity of our human sexuality by showcasing a broad range of people." <ref name="seaf-master">{{cite web |title="Masters of Erotic Art" |url=https://www.seaf.art/us/masters/ |website=Seattle Erotic Art Festival |access-date=6 November 2024}}</ref>

An anthology of his notable pieces appear in the 2015 book ''This Thing We Call Sex: A Radically Sensible Look at Sex in America''. This book received praise from notable intellectuals, authors and sexologists including [[Annie Sprinkle]], [[Judith Levine]], [[Susie Bright]], [[Patrick Califia|Patrick Califa]], [[Rachel Kramer Bussel]], and [[Candida Royalle]].<ref name="thing-sex-blurbs">{{cite book |last1=David |first1=Steinberg |title=That Thing We Can Sex (Book Description and Promotional Material) |date=August 26, 2016 |publisher=Red Alder Books |location=San Francisco |isbn=978-0914906070 |pages=also appears on the first 7 pages of print edition |url=https://www.nearbycafe.com/loveandlust/davidsteinberg//product/this-thing-we-call-sex-a-radically-sensible-look-at-sex-in-america/ |access-date=6 November 2024}}</ref> Calling Steinberg's essays about sex and society "wise and timeless," Michael Castleman described Steinberg as "an explorer of issues of sexuality and gender like a latter-day Captain Kirk..."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Castleman |first1=Michael |title=(Book's Forward) This Thing We Call Sex |date=2015 |publisher=Booktrope |isbn=1620156911978-1620156919 |page=i}}</ref>

Explaining why he writes about sexual politics, Steinberg wrote, "Sex is the number one political issue of these times.... The fundamental cultural war being fought in this country is about sexual values, sexual attitudes, sexual beliefs — about how we feel, not about sexual programs, but about sex itself." <ref name="steinberg-politics-sex">{{cite web |last1=Steinberg |first1=David |title=The Politics of Sex (article) |url=https://www.nearbycafe.com/loveandlust/davidsteinberg//2009/04/02/the-politics-of-sex/ |website=(Originally appeared in San Francisco Chronicle April 2, 2009) |publisher=San Francisco Chronicle |access-date=6 November 2024}}</ref>

In the 1980s Steinberg first became involved in erotic photography when organizing "A Celebration of Eros", a mixed-media presentation which he gave in various cities across the U.S.<ref name="hapax-social-change">{{cite web |last1=Legomenon |first1=Hapax |title=Eros During Times of Social Change (Interview with author David Steinberg Pt 3) |url=https://www.ripemangotaketwo.com/articles/steinberg-interview/eros-social-change.xhtml |website=Ripemangotaketwopress.com |access-date=6 November 2024}}</ref> In 1988 he edited and published a collection of erotic fiction, poetry, photography and drawings, ''Erotic by Nature'' (Down There Press) in 1988. Containing 122 duotone photographs, 17 drawings, 15 short stories, and 38 poems, the book aims to "demonstrate that erotic art and writing can be passionate and provocative without being pornographic." The book received favorable press from the [[Utne Reader]], Artweek, Libido, [[Bay Area Reporter]], the Book Reader and the [[Whole Earth Review]] (which called the anthology "sexually nutritious .... luscious prose, poetry and photos of women and men in panoramic combination." <ref name="ebn-list-blurbs">{{cite book |title=Erotic by Nature: A Celebration of Life, of Love, and of Our Wonderful Bodies « David Steinberg |publisher=Red Alder Books/Down There Press |location=Santa Cruz, CA |page=quote on book jacket |url=https://www.nearbycafe.com/loveandlust/davidsteinberg/product/erotic-by-nature-a-celebration-of-life-of-love-and-of-our-wonderful-bodies/ |access-date=6 November 2024 |language=English |format=Hardback}}</ref>) [[Salon.com]] described this book as a "lavish, groundbreaking coffee-table book .... (which) was Steinberg's personal addition to the feminist critique of porn." <ref name="salon-critic" />

Publication of this book led to work as the photo representative for a Norwegian arts journal (Cupido). For that job he represented 100+ photographers to Cupido, and eventually he started photographing couples having sex himself. What began as a "casual experiment" became an important focus of Steinberg's life for the next 25 years. Steinberg has described his photos as "fine-art sexual photography", saying "The basic purpose of fine-art sexual photography is not to arouse people (though that may happen) but to say something truthful about sex and about who we are as sexual beings." <ref name="salon-critic" /> Steinberg's photos have appeared in photography shows at art galleries in San Francisco, Chicago, Berkeley, New York and Oslo.<ref name="bio-steinberg" /> Many of the photos later appeared in photography books he authored or edited.<ref name="article-photographing">{{cite web |last1=Steinberg |first1=David |title=Photographing Sex |url=https://www.nearbycafe.com/loveandlust/davidsteinberg/%e2%80%a2-photography/photographing-sex/ |access-date=6 November 2024}}</ref>