Jurgen Maelfeyt

To be explicit or not to be explicit? That’s what Jurgen Maelfeyt questions in his new book, TOY. Inspired by his personal collection of vintage erotica, the Belgium-based photographer’s latest page-turner features a series of reproduced photographs taken from ’70s and ’80s porn magazines. TOY arrives as the third instalment of Maelfeyt’s book trilogy. While still exploring themes of intimacy, desire and the human form, TOY deviates from the on-the-nose titles of his first and second books, WET and FURS, which quite literally explore water and, well, fur, as found in ’70s porn. “There’s actually no toys in this book, they’re just alluded to throughout,” Maelfeyt says. “In fact, I wanted to hide a lot more in TOY.” From images of bodies strewn across sun loungers to close-ups of hands clasping glasses of red wine and stiletto-clad feet tucked under legs on sofas, TOY examines how images in erotic magazines aren’t always about explicit, hardcore sex. They also showcase intimacy in all of its glorious, sexy manifestations. (THE FACE MAGAZINE)