SWEDISH FETISH: ANDREA BELLUSO

The psychologist starts by quoting the definitions of fetishism, sexual masochism and sexual sadism found in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th Edition).

Now, publishers have been known to include such pieces solely as intellectual justification for collections of pervy pictures. But this psychologist, it turns out, has some very positive insights to offer about the stuff we like to do.

And her contribution was, Belluso promises, “as casual and unplanned as the rest of the book”. 

Although the photographer lost a few major clients after Swedish Fetish came out, it wasn’t long before he began working with some big new brands. Around four or five years ago, commissions that he wasn’t even looking for started coming in from global players including Cadillac, Condé Nast and Nestlé.

“When I asked such people why they called me instead of one of the millions of really good car or food photographers in the world, they explained that all these photographers who are great at photographing cars or food follow the rules. 

“They do car photography as it should be shot. As it should be lit. As it should be represented and all that. Since I have never done that, and I don’t care about those rules — never have done and never will — I will shoot it however I think that product is going to sell the most. 

“That’s what these companies were interested in – a lighting professional and specialist who could create more with their products.”

‘When I asked why they called me instead of one of the millions of really good car or food photographers, they explained that all these photographers who are great at photographing cars or food follow the rules’

I ask Andrea whether he shot all the book’s images on film, as looks entirely possible. “Film and digital,” he replies, “half and half”. So, ten years on, does he still shoot anything on film?

“Sometimes, and in those cases I work with large format film and large format Polaroid.” And what makes him decide which medium to use?

“I follow the energy. I hold a lot of seminars and workshops and talks for photographers around the world, and the one thing I keep repeating over and over again is not to ‘go in their heads’. 

“That’s exactly what I don’t do — I don’t go in my head. I don’t think about anything, I really follow the energy. And that for me is really the definition of being creative. If you’re being creative you will not follow any rules, you will not follow any laws of photography.

So he’s just working on instinct? “Totally, totally. And that’s when it gets more fun. And when you’re having more fun, then you start creating even more, and start surprising yourself. 

“And that’s when you look at your picture and think, ‘Wow did I just take that? That’s really cool. Let me take another. Oh my God, that’s even different. Oh my God, what am I doing?’ 

“I think that’s how you should work if you want to have fun with it. And even if you don’t want to have fun with it, but you want to earn more money with it, that’s the way to go because that’s the thing that’s gonna make you unique.”

However, Belluso insists, this is not the same as trying to do something weird just to be weird. 

TO BE CREATIVE, LET GO OF CONTROL

“When you’re creating in that space, you’re actually controlling the situation and judging it, one way or the other. What I’m talking about is a space of total non-judgment, and totally receiving any energy that is being thrown at you and being willing to play with it and have fun with it.”

The point, he emphasises, is to be willing to let go of control. “Most photographers including myself are complete, total control freaks. But the minute you let go of control, that’s when you start being really creative.”

Andrea recalls his own reaction, on first realising that his youthful taste for women in skintight latex and high heels was fetishistic. “It was: OK, wow, that’s interesting!

“I didn’t put it in a box, I didn’t put it in a category, it was just part of me,” he continues. “So even this thing of putting fetish in a box… what if we could actually see that we are all fetishists, to some degree?

“And for me that was liberation. The reason I call the book a renaissance for me is not just a ‘liking’ aspect, but it’s also the personal life aspect. I discovered so many sides of me that are amazing — and fun.