BT Charles gets Dirty

(Credit: BT Charles)

Photos:

BT Charles, a Dirty Show artist with long-standing Detroit connections, was born in 1960 and raised in the northeast suburbs. His mastery of the camera began at an early age with the gift of a Polaroid on his 12th birthday. After "blasting through film as if it grew on trees," he moved on to 35mm and was an early enthusiast for digital.

Charles participated in the 2004 Dirty Show and subsequently built an impressive reputation here and elsewhere for artistic erotic photography. With the 10^th Annual Dirty Show set to be uncovered Friday, Charles revealed some answers to our questions regarding his participation in provocative show held at Bert's Warehouse in Detroit.

What is your opinion of the Dirty show? Does this mark your first participation in the event?
As a photographic artist, I love the Dirty Show and what it's about. It brings together some of the best erotic art and photographers in the world to be exhibited alongside relative newcomers who are exhibiting, perhaps, for the first time. That’s a major experience right there.

As a fan of erotic art, there's no place on the planet where one can view this much variety in one place at one time. I've been exhibiting at The Dirty Show since Dirty 5, which incidentally marked my first public-exhibiting experience.

There has always been an ongoing argument or debate about the difference between porn and eroticism. What, in your opinion, constitutes that crucial difference?
Porn is redundant and graphically sexual -- or gratuitously sexual if you will. You get the same imagery time after time -- it's only the people that change. I feel erotic art/photography should be more thought provoking. It should attract the viewer to examine the art, to take in the nuances of the piece.

Sure, everyone’s tastes are different, but I feel that's the main difference or at least the visual template that I use when creating a piece of erotic-photographic art.

Someone once made the remark that the only difference between the two was "lighting." As a photographer, an artist who obviously deals with light, would you regard that as merely fatuous or close to the mark?
Sure, lighting is important, but I feel erotic art/photography need not be graphic to be visually appealing. Brilliantly lit graphic sexual content is still porn in my eyes. I think the lighting excuse that you mention gives license to those who would wish that their “porn” would be considered artistic in nature. Porn is still porn regardless of lighting technique.  

How did your career start in this particular field? Who were your influences?
I have always taken photographs. I am not a patient man, so in addition to the Polaroid, the digital age helped me realize imagery immediately. I could take a photograph with the digital camera -- and look at it literally within minutes. This was the main point where I started shooting more works around 1997 or so.  

I exhibited my first erotic photographs at the 2004 show. I sold two pieces and next year I sold two more pieces. With the encouragement of Jerry, Jeremy and Gary, I pursued a web site and started exhibiting and selling my work from there. Various collectors and publishers ultimately picked up on my work, as well as a few museums.

My main photographic influences are Eric Kroll, Helmut Newton and Robert Mapplethorpe. I have since become good friends with Eric Kroll as a result of him knowing of my photography. To get to know the man whose work was one of the main catalysts to my making erotic photographs has been a highpoint. I became a fan of Eric's work in the early ‘90s.

Through good times and bad, through hell and high water, Detroit has always maintained a vibrant and healthy art scene. You take pride in describing yourself as "an artist from Detroit," so how do you explain this proud resiliency in the face of so many past and present problems?
Erotic art/photography makes you a pariah in certain circles. Regardless of any artistic merit, it's still classified as pornography by many. I have battled those stereotypes with my work as well, and have had received the “porn” criticism many times. My attitude has always been, if you like my work…great!! If you hate my work…great!! I don't really care.   

I think this is a Detroit attitude quite frankly. It’s, “Hey,this is me! If you don’t like me…tough!”

I’ve always considered myself a Detroiter, even though I've lived in the ‘burbs my whole life. As tough as the going gets, I’ve always felt that the Detroit spirit is to be resilient -- never say die, keep going against all the odds -- and perhaps today that spirit is more relevant and more poignant than ever. In this genre that I work in, to give up at the first hint of resistance would be against everything that embodies this Detroit sprit.  

Do you run into problems with your works in other places or venues? Has Boston ever given you a hard time, for instance?
Not really. I’ve had my work exhibited in Miami, Frisco, Zurich, Atlanta and many other places. I get more resistance from being an art photographer instead of an art painter, however. Some galleries have discounted photography as an art form altogether. 

However, I've been very fortunate to be exhibited at the River's Edge in Wyandotte. The first time I talked to Patt Slack she enthusiastically asked me to exhibit inside the Patty Izzo Fine Art Photo Gallery on their 3rd floor. I owe The Edge a great deal for taking me on as an exhibiting artist, considering that I am principally an erotic photographer. I proudly continue to exhibit there to this day, not only my erotic work, but my non-erotic work as well.

Will you be back for the eleventh show?
You bet! In my eyes, the Dirty show is the Super Bowl of erotic art Shows. It’s the show I look forward to each year.