Uncensored: Gruenholtz Opens His Archive

Many know Gruenholtz primarily for his 2023 breakthrough book “The Fine Art of Erections” (Amazon affiliate link) — a photographic tribute to the beauty of the male erection (see TheColu.mn review). Yet even earlier, the New York-based artist had already sparked attention. For his 2020 photobook debut “Uncensored,” Gruenholtz spent twelve months between 2017 and 2018 repeatedly visiting the Lucas Entertainment shoots, capturing the models off the set in genuine moments. The result was artistic, and above all, highly erotic, black-and-white photographs that captured the sensual and friendly moments at the margins of a porn shoot (see TheColu.mn review).

The concept landed. The first edition sold out quickly, and the second followed suit soon after. The fact that the book was no longer readily available for a time echoed the success of “The Fine Art of Erections.” Now “Uncensored” is back. For the new edition (Amazon affiliate link) the volume has been expanded with an epilogue featuring unpublished archive photos that were left out of the original edition for space reasons. Additionally, Gruenholtz has written a new foreword in which he indirectly critiques the trajectory of the adult industry.

“Fan websites have hurt the adult industry.”

“When I went through the original images for the ‘Uncensored’ project, I was reminded again of what a stroke of luck it was to work with Lucas Entertainment in 2017/18,” the photographer writes in the foreword. “For the shoots, luxurious villas were rented all over the world — production conditions like that are no longer commonplace. The competition from fan websites, free content, and more recently AI technology has taken a toll on the traditional adult industry.”

He adds that the use of smartphones on set and the targeted self-presentation by the participants were also not common at the time. “I still remember the first time I photographed models who produced videos for their own fan pages,” Gruenholtz recalls. “I was quite perplexed when one of them looked directly into the camera and winked. At some point I stopped the shoot and asked why the models kept looking into my camera instead of at each other. They explained that by doing so they would forge a closer connection with their fans. There would be no fourth wall.”

“Uncensored”: With the adult stars in the gym, by the pool and in the bedroom

Revisiting the “Uncensored” photos with these prefaces in mind (again) underscores their quality. In fact, the book contains only a few images in which the models look directly into the lens. Instead, most shots convey the feeling of witnessing intimate moments. We follow adult stars like Ben Bateman, Devin Franco, and studio founder Michael Lucas into the gym, the pool, or the bedroom, and become witnesses to moments of unfiltered tenderness.

Regarding the subjects Gruenholtz chose for the Epilogue, he says: “I had originally planned them for the original edition (…). As such, I am all the more pleased to finally be able to present them.”

The Gruenholtz picture books “Uncensored” and “The Fine Art of Erections,” as well as many other high-quality photography books, calendars, and films from Salzgeber’s program are available, among other places, at Salzgeber.Shop.