Bernhard Prinz's Erotic Portraits of Youth

Bernhard Prinz, a German sculptor and photographer born in 1953 in Fürth and now based in Hamburg, created a series of frontal portraits of young people that convey a high erotic charge despite minimal nudity. The subjects, both male and female, are clothed but with certain body parts exposed, their gazes fixed on the camera. The eroticism lies not in explicit nudity but in the promise of it, achieved through posture, slight gestures of unveiling, and intense eye contact. Prinz studied art history and was influenced by Mannerism, Baroque, and Fascist architecture, which he explored during a residency at Villa Massimo in Rome in 1994. He exhibited with Franz Paludetto at his Turin gallery and Castello di Rivara between 1993 and 1995. The article, written by Ferruccio Giromini for Artribune Magazine #59, notes that Prinz later returned to photographing rigid architecture and cold Nordic landscapes.