Life

What 15 Women Really Look Like When They Climax

In another great step toward debunking the whole mystery of the female orgasm idea, photographer Albert Pocej has photographed 15 real women having real orgasms. And the photos show that 1) they really do happen; 2) they don't look like porn; and 3) they are still sexy as hell. Seriously.

The black-and-white photographs are amazing and moving — showing a diverse range of women with, well, a diverse array of orgasm faces. What would make someone want to take photos of women orgasming? "It's not about the message," Pocej tells Bustle. "The reason is the discussion by itself. I learned that sometimes you need to be the brave to say things, that are taboos. Almost everybody is doing it and nobody talks about [this]. It's still shameful."

This is a good step towards removing some of that shame. Pocej found that a lot of models he approached weren't interested in taking part. Of those who did, some could have an orgasm while he was there taking photographs, but for others, he used time lapse photograph, so that the models could have privacy. All of the models look like they're having a grand old time, so he's obviously done something right.

And the more we are open about sex and sexuality, especially female sexuality, the better. I gushed about The Labia Library, which celebrates the diversity of vulvas with a whole lot of photos of them, this photo series gets it all out in the open. There's nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to the female orgasm — it should be celebrated, but without being dressed up. I mean, we all have pretty weird orgasm faces — men and women. But for some reason, sometimes we feel the need to bite their lip and grab their hair and whimper like every porn star ever, whereas men are happy looking like they're suffering through the world's worst sneeze. For once, this photo series is actually portraying female orgasms in a real and authentic way.

You can check out his BoredPanda blog post to see more about the piece, but here are some of my favorite photos:

This woman having the best time that someone has ever had in the fall foliage.

This beautiful landscape with a model having an even more beautiful time.

That tongue, though.

There is something just so badass about everything that's happening here.

Do I understand the logs? No. Do I love it? Absolutely.

The blurs in this photo feel like my actual brain during an orgasm, and it makes me happy.

I love that none of these faces look the same, and none of them look like they're putting on some forced fake orgasm. This is what orgasms look like, people — and they're amazing.

Images: Courtesy of Albert Pocej