Chains & whips excite me: Meet the photographer capturing Berlin's kink scene

German-Canadian photographer and filmmaker Maria Uebele has immersed herself in Berlin’s queer scene and uses her art to unpick commonplace power dynamics within sex.

Her forthcoming show DEVIANT features dozens of Polaroids capturing the hedonism and joyous inclusivity of fetish culture. To help move away from the typical voyeuristic viewpoint of erotic photography, Uebele made herself a complete equal with her subjects, even shooting naked to break down the barriers [and break the ice].

We had the great pleasure of chatting with Uebele over email and finding out more about this radical project.

Let’s start with the show title – what does the word ‘deviant’ mean to you?

Kink and fetish are a large part of my life, and I have had the word ‘deviant’ thrown at me in more ways than I can count. A sexually liberated woman or femme is still often seen as wild, dangerous or exotic. For me, ‘deviant’ represents autonomy more than anything else. I wanted to reclaim this word that has so often been used to chastise sexually liberated women and femmes. It’s a word used to describe someone who deviates from societal expectations, from what is considered typical, implying that the behaviour or belief is in some way morally wrong. I wanted to lean into that idea of morally wrong and show how fun it can be to be a proper deviant. In one way or another, we are all sinners.

Did you spend time with the canon of erotic photography when you were engaged in this project? What were your observations?

Oh yes, for sure. I’ve been a fan of erotic photography for a long time and wrote about it extensively during my masters. Unfortunately, we still see the male hetero gaze permeating a lot of the imagery we consume. The female gaze, or just generally a non-objectifying gaze has become stronger or more prevalent, but we are still very much lacking erotic images of queer people and women.

You constantly see the same names mentioned when researching erotic photography; Araki, Newton, Richardson and so on, and the image is always of a thin cis-het white woman in lingerie. I was so sick of seeing this and gravitated towards the works of Barbara Nitke who photographed American porn sets in the 90s and Nathalie Daoust who photographed the women working in a Japanese love hotel.

Seeing women occupying these spaces and empowering these kinds of narratives was very influential to my own work. Nitke’s and Daoust’s abilities to create connections between the erotic and escapism while invoking a dreamy fantasy with an almost cinematic quality is something I really loved. Each image of hers seemed like a private performance for the viewer, and I wanted to replicate a similar feeling.

What was the experience like of taking photographs while you yourself were in a state of undress?

It was so much fun. I would explain the idea to the models beforehand and again on set and the reaction was always so positive. It felt very freeing because I felt like I was removing a barrier between myself and the people I was photographing – it was an attempt at rebalancing the innately unbalanced power dynamic between photographer and the photographed. I always intended DEVIANT to be a collaborative project, and by shooting naked/in underwear, I was more overtly aligning myself with my collaborators. I didn’t want to be in the position of a voyeur, I was photographing friends I knew through the kink community. We were the same, I just had a camera with me.

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What is it about Berlin that is such a rich ground for kink, fetish and other ‘outsider’ communities?

Berlin had been, for a very long time, a city divided. Everything was tightly controlled and monitored. When the Wall fell in 1989, you suddenly had all this freedom – freedom to travel, explore, experiment, try new things … I think that mentality has stayed with the city and continues to attract people who want that feeling of unbridled freedom, to escape. But Berlin has always been a place of sexual liberation. The hedonistic tendencies of the Weimar Republic felt in the bedrock of the city, the club scene is very much a reflection of that. That plus the strong community ties, as well as favourable political influences have allowed the kink scene to flourish here in a way that it can nowhere else.

Could you tell us about some of your goals with this project? What stereotype are you hoping to challenge?

I’m aiming to challenge the notion that kink and fetish are solely associated with a wild, dark realm inhabited only by those considered ‘crazy’. While it can indeed encompass intense and unconventional experiences, it’s crucial to recognise its spectrum. From the familiar imagery of dimly lit dungeons to the softer, more playful, even romantic moments, I sought to portray the multifaceted nature of kink.

The essence of this project lies in showcasing not just the practices themselves, but also the diverse individuals who embrace them. My intention was to shift the focus away from mere sexual explicitness and towards the emotional depth and personal connections captured within each frame. It’s about celebrating the vibrant tapestry of people thriving within this community. There’s a profound transformative power inherent in embracing a collective identity.

Through our images, we assert our right to be seen as we truly are, shedding the misconceptions imposed upon us by outsiders. Employing a documentary-inspired approach, my aim was to empower the queer individuals featured in my work to reclaim agency over their own representation. They weren’t posed or directed; rather, I invited them to authentically express themselves in front of my lens. My hope is that by witnessing this portrayal, people will reconsider their perceptions of the kink community and acknowledge its depth and diversity.

What was behind your choice of a Polaroid camera?

Polaroid has a long-standing history with the queer community, and it seemed like the perfect choice for this project. Polaroid and instant photography in general has a deeply intimate quality that is so special. Each capture is so immediate and unfiltered, everything is inherently genuine. For me, it has an almost magical quality. There is no way to duplicate an image, you just had to be there.

Has this project affected the way you think about your own gaze as a photographer?

Absolutely! I am more conscious of it than ever and I try to create my own version of the queer female gaze. I would like to think that the way I consume images and take images is different from the way most of us do, but I think that isn’t true. We are always products of the environments we are born into, and the way I look at images is formed by the male gaze. Because, even as a queer woman, I grew up consuming so many images of the male gaze. I try to educate myself as much as I can to undo the unsavoury patterns I have picked up so that I don’t unconsciously replicate them in my own work.

But at the end of the day, it isn’t simply the male gaze that is a problem – men can take wonderful images. It is the objectifying gaze that is such an issue. And I will always be working against that.