Confessions: Eroticism in Media

Although Internet porn is just a few clicks away, independent print publications devoted to erotica are currently thriving. While porn became digital, more anonymous, and even faster to get, recent examples of printed erotica became more individual, more distinct, and more elaborately presented. The current edition of Nico, "Confessions: Eroticism in Media," takes a compelling look at the recent boom of smaller, independent erotic publications. "Confessions: Eroticism in Media" introduces ten groundbreaking publications from around the world that are creating a contemporary visual language for erotic content. The issue also features telling conversations with their makers, all of whom are using the haptic qualities of a printed magazine and the power of well-made images to address more distinct erotic preferences. Some of the included interviews are so personal and refreshingly honest that they feel like pages ripped out of a personal diary, while others focus on the commercial and anthropological challenges that come with creating an independent publication. Readers can learn, for example, about how the makers of Butt, Gert Jonkers and Jop van Bennekom, created a movement and then went on to craft two of today's most relevant fashion publications; while Thomas Lenthal, Paris's man of the hour, used his connections in the international fashion world to forge a visually powerful erotic bible called Paradis. From the other side of the Atlantic, Danielle Leder explains why she chose to breathe new life into Jacques to continue to celebrate America's girl-next-door.