Thursday, December 26, 2019

HORRIFY ME. YES PLEASE

Jennifer wrestled her friend playfully to the ground
Infront of the snow cone stand and began licking at the
Girls eyeballs, as if they were sugar cubes. Their
Bodies convulsed and flailed with an almost seizure
Like intensity. At times their pale limbs seeming to
Shift back and forth from one torso to the other. A
Crowd gathered almost immediately to watch these two
Girls tie and untie their bodies like a pair of
Pit-vipers. They were confused, or concerned, or
Shocked, or aroused, or all of the above. But no-one
Dared interfere with the performance. Jennifer's long
Ashen hair hung down concealing the girls face like a
Curtain around a hospital bed. No one had any idea
That the girls eyes were revolving under her ruby
Tongue. "This is disgusting, its pornography"
Exclaimed a pasty slut white woman in a fur coat,
Vanilla ice-cream smeared across her double chin like
A money shot. Counting a balding professor type in his
Mid-forties, his left hand stuffed crassly down the
Front of his pants "No, no, no. This is beautiful,
This is art."
*Jennifer - Pig Destroyer

Its a never ending argument art or porn I guess its like devil worship or music argument that follows Heavy Metal and there is plenty of evidence for each side to use lots of nudity in art lots of devils in Heavy Metal but the debate continues and it seems that religion is the dividing like i.e. Piss Christ if it would have been Piss Pee Wee Herman ZERO controversy. Most likely Heavy Metal fans are not goat wielding satanic creatures of the night and same for models and artist who use nudity as imagery are not all Larry Flint.

Now for myself I like the Devil in my Metal AND in my art. When I look for extreme I like it to actually be extreme. When I ran across Horrify Me I was like YEAH!!! So I had to find out the deal on this masterwork.So here it is The interview

1.For those who do not know tell us what Horrify Me is and where can we find it

Horrify Me is an award winning photographic portrait studio based in Kent, UK. I have an extensive online gallery and booking form at www.horrify.me.uk and I'm also on most social media, despite having a difficult relationship with social media because of the nature of my work (I'm always getting banned). I have a very nice book out which sells all over the world and gets wonderful responses from people, and is crammed with my weird, sexy horror photos and gory portraits.
   

2.There are people who would call what you do porn, What would you reply to that?

That's a complex issue. Outside of the obvious material, like showing naked people fucking etc, porn is relative to each person's own perception and taste. Most people can look at a shoe catalogue and just think about buying shoes, but some people out there will get turned on because feet are sexually arousing to some. If porn is material that is used for sexual gratification then it's meaning must be pretty broad in some ways, outside of the obvious stuff. We all have our own boundaries of what porn is, and individually we know it when we see it. I strive to work artistically and avoid what, to me at least, is "porn". There are things I'll never photograph because they are what I would consider "pornographic" but I also understand that to some, just the appearance of a bit of cleavage is pornographic. You can't hit the bullseye on this issue. I just know that my intention is to never make porn, but art, but it is the job of others to judge the success of this.

3. In accordance with the last question sex and horror have always seemed to go hand in hand is this why you decided to mix both?
  

I know that sex and horror have always been bedfellows, from the earliest coded eroticism of Dracula, through the Friday 13th slasher era and even right up to the modern day. In fact you can trace sexual anxieties and its relationship with horror right the way through human history. Early religious doctrine was full of fear, dread, and threats of hell and damnation if any sexual desire was expressed, and the motif of "Death and the Maiden" has explored this very idea for many centuries. It goes pretty deep, and was never the invention of the horror genre as we know it, but part of raw human psychology. I was very young when I first saw ALIEN but as I got older and uncovered all the layers of profound sexual threat embedded into the fabric of the design, it really changed my view of the film, and consequently of other films too. Sex and death are the ultimate human experiences and horror seems to be one of the most explicit genres that explores both fearlessly. But I have to add to this that I studied fine art and design, and spent three years studying nude models in art class, so aside from the sexual elements of the horror genre, I'm also working as authentically and artistically as I can based on my own experience and education.
  

4.The thing that drew me to you was the extreme nature of your work what influenced you ?

Tom Savini has always been a big influence on me, and the slasher films of the 1980s which I grew up watching as a teenager. A lot of my desire to be extreme grew out of years of frustration with UK film censorship, during the Video Nasty era of the 1980s / 90s. I'm sure a lot of horror fans of my generation would have enjoyed pretty moderate horror films had it not been for the BBFC's iron fisted censorship under James Ferman. That era led us all into illegal missions to get our hands on the most extreme graphic horror films of the day. While our school friends were watching Private Benjamin and Stir Crazy, we were watching uncut Cannibal Holocaust and Evil Dead. It was a bleak time to be a UK horror fan and it cemented a deep pathological hatred of censorship in me - and, perhaps, a desire to be more shocking in some of my work.

5.I dig the mixture of blood but also the elements of burns , suffocation and murder in your work one thing I do not see much of is a religious / blasphemous / satanic imagery is this something you stray away from or have I just missed it?

I'm an atheist and don't care about religion. I have done a few Satan shoots in the past (I don't believe in Satan or any other religious concept, to me he's just a cool "movie villain" type of character). I shot a nude crucifixion with a female model. She was depicted in the exact same way that Jesus is depicted, with the crown of thorns, loin cloth, and scars. I don't do a lot of religious imagery but that's not because I avoid it, I just don't find it that interesting but I wouldn't steer clear of it if a cool idea came up.
  

6.Tell us about things you have in the works, things we can look forward to in 2020

More blood! More boobs! More gore! Seriously that's about as much as I can say right now.

7.Is your family familiar with your work? How do they feel about it?

I have an awesome wife who supports my work and even models for me quite a bit. My family are pretty cool about what I do. I don't hide any of what I do from anyone. I'm very lucky I have a good family.

8. Is it hard to get models to do this kind of work?

Haha, no!

9.Have you done any work in films or rock video's etc and where can we see it if so?

I usually turn down film work, as it doesn't interest me. I just enjoy my photography work. I did shoot some still images for Matt Shaw's film MONSTER a while ago, but other than that I really don't get involved.
  

10. How can we subscribe if possible?

I have no subscription service. You can follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and catch a few YouTube videos. Just search for Horrify Me UK. The main work is on my website at www.horrify.me.uk

11. And lastly being a Heavy Metal site tell us are you a metal fan and who are your favorite bands?

I'm afraid not, sorry. I'm more of a Sex Pistols and The Doors guy. I prefer subversive rock and punk. Quite a lot of metal fans buy my book and post comments online about how "metal" it is, but I really don't know what this means. I'm just happy they all seem to love it.
THE HORRIFY ME BOOK - A Collection of Fine Art Horror Portrait Photography - is available at www.horrify.me.uk for £30 plus shipping and ships worldwide

Thanks :)

Rick



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