The Big O

No, not THAT one. I kept having this vision of luscious slices of orange looking as though they were cut from an orange condom. I picked up some tangelos, since they had a better color than regular oranges, and spent half a day trying to realize my vision.

It didn't happen.

Eventually I got frustrated and starting eating the slices of tangelo. And when I saw the empty rind, finally, the images started to work.

Bad Blockades

Not every idea I have is a keeper.

Love Blockade has become the most popular image of my collection. The flower is so lusciously reminiscent of girls.

The condoms surround it lovingly in a heart arrangement.

It wasn't always so.

Don't laugh at these "other" versions of Love Blockade involving red gummy fish (the gummy worms were too stupid looking to even photograph.

I know! They're terrible!

I've known about the work of Adriana Bertini for some time. Her dresses and other fashions made from condoms have become famous.

She got inspired after meeting HIV-positive children and became determined to find a way to spread the message about the safety, ease, and practicality of condoms. She has certainly succeeded.

She has used as many as 80,000 condoms in a single outfit and shows her work in AIDS benefits and fashion outlets all over the world.

I whole-heartedly agree with her message. Condoms are wonderful and beautiful and colorful and most importantly--they make our world safe to play in.

Condom Positions

Just in from http://www.news.com/

AN Australian manufacturer has called for applications for what it claims could be the world's best job – condom tester.

Durex marketing manager Sam White said any Australian over the age of 18 could apply for one of 200 positions as a condom tester.

The position is not paid, but successful applicants will receive a free $60 selection of Durex products and will be required to provide the company with honest feedback about the products' performance.

One of the lucky 200 testers will win a $1000 bonus.

Applicants must explain why they would make an expert condom tester, Mr White said.

“With this job on your CV, it really will be a chance to brag to your mates about the special skills you possess, not to mention that your new role will work wonders with the opposite sex,” he said.

“Who wouldn't want to have a chance with an actual authorised professional?”

One thing's for sure – it's a job where employees won't mind taking their work home and burning the midnight oil.

Grandma Finds Condom in Happy Meal

I think it's awesome! McDonald's should run with it!
The Happy Meal for "Really Big Kids."
WELLINGTON, New Zealand, Apr. 26, 2007

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(AP) A grandmother was alarmed to find a condom in a happy meal gift pack bought for her 7-year-old granddaughter at a McDonald's restaurant in New Zealand, local media reported Thursday.

The condom was discovered Tuesday night in a bag that came with Maia Whitaker's meal, which her grandparents bought at a McDonald's outlet in the city of Wellington.

Grandpa Rowan Hutch told The Dominion Post newspaper it was lucky his wife was first to look inside the small sports bag that came with the meal.

She was aghast when she found the green condom and its packet inside the bag, he said.

"I was pretty horrified really. The fact my granddaughter was going to look in the bag and find this thing. It would be difficult to explain, she's only seven," said Hutch.

The outlet quickly swapped the happy meal for a hamburger and pencil case. McDonald's is investigating the find.

Spokeswoman Joanna Redfern-Hardisty said because of its popularity, the previous happy meal gift had sold out at the outlet and prepackaged sports bags were substituted as children's gifts.

One was left unsealed for display purposes and "somehow" had ended up with the customer, she said, without explaining why the condom was present.

Asparagus Outtakes

Not all my condom ideas come out well. I've thrown out as many shoots as I've kept.

Sometimes, though, in the midst of the genesis of creation, something creepy occurs. While I loved the albino asparagus I discovered for Asparagus D'Amor, they did look like severed fingers in some of the shots.

Hideous!

And it begins

If you've ever been to the MySpace page, you know this project began in April 2006. Here's how it got started!

I recently fell in love with photographing still life works. I photographed wine (booze being one of my favorite things) and then asked my friends what other items I should try next.
"Sex toys" was the overwhelming response.

When the thought of compiling vibrators drew some rather unhappy noises of disgust, I thought--hey--why not condoms?

So friends began bringing them by. Trojan, Durex, Lifestyles...the usual suspects.

Then a friend contributes one from a box that harkened back to the day she lost her virginity.

Another friend startles everyone by walking in to a dinner party and upon seeing me, saying "Oh! I forgot the condoms!" (It wasn't THAT kind of party!)

And then my DAD offers up a 40-year-old condom, wrapped in shiny see-through cellophane, from his own adolescence!

So now the condom project is well on its way.

I've got a dozen images ready to go and I'm in the process of printing up cards and a portfolio to take it on the road. Check back to find where my condom pictures and I might show up!

Take a look at the gallery!