Sophie Ebrard

It’s a testament to Sophie’s craft that she can take a subject as visceral and divisive as the sex industry, a subject that has been visited by great photographers already, and come away with images that are not only original but, most notably, pictures that are genuinely intimate.

That’s intimate in the true sense of the word: familiar, personal; like we’ve been taken not only behind the scenes, but also into the confidence of the subjects.

This is something you can see in much of Sophie’s work. The images are so much more than the sum of their parts. There’s beautiful light in abundance, compositions are effortless, thoughtful and witty. Working almost exclusively with film, the finish to the images has depth and feeling. But it’s more than all of this that makes Sophie’s images so special. There’s empathy as well. Whether it’s porn-stars, professional boxers, teenagers in the school-yard or three generations of family on Summer holidays, we are there with the subjects, not as voyeurs but as fellow human-beings, sharing a sly glance and a smile about the ridiculousness of life, or just sharing whatever moment or place that it happens to be, in some cases just the feel of the sun-light or breeze on your skin.

It’s a gift to be able to do that, but Sophie has found a methodology which takes her to that place where it all ‘just happens’ time and time again. All I can say is how excited we are about where she might take us all next, uncovering the unexpected in the familiar, and not so familiar.

James Gerrard-Jones

Pornography is the largest and most profitable market in the world today. However, the industry and its works are still subject to widespread scrutiny and taboo.
To humanise the individuals in front of the lens and show a lighter side within the industry, French-born photographer Sophie Ebrard followed porn director Gazzman for the past four years on his sets around the world.

The results are no ordinary erotic images, in fact there’s very little sexual gratification in them. ‘It’s Just Love’ is both a study of composition and of the human relation to the industry of sex. It is porn turned on its head in a blaze of long shots, private moments and elegant compositions. Sophie’s lack of prejudice makes her work more honest and therefore unique.

Ebrard lays bare the reality of porn from the peripheral of the film cameras using medium format analogue film in order to catch those unguarded and most human of moments. An interaction between a number of like-minded people; a means to making a living and an enjoyable profession just like another.

In an era where porn has never been discussed more elaborately, Sophie’s vision of the industry is a refreshing alternative: reminiscent of the Renaissance paintings, full of honesty and most decisively, beauty. “Any glimpses of nudity humanise, rather than objectify, the subjects of ‘It’s Just Love’.