Natacha Merritt

Last updated
Natacha Merritt
Born1977 (age 4546)
San Francisco, USA
NationalityAmerican
Alma materSan Francisco State University
Known forPhotography, Writing, Virtual Reality
StyleErotica
Website natacha-merritt.fr

Natacha Merritt (born 1977) is an American photographer, artist and biologist. Her 2000 book Digital Diaries was published by Taschen and was the first digital photography book ever published. [1] She has been profiled in Rolling Stone . [2] Merritt has been called a cheap self-promoter, [1] a ground-breaker, [3] and the contemporary counterpart of Anaïs Nin. [4] She cataloged her sexual history on the internet through explicit photographs and drew the attention of photographer Eric Kroll, leading to the release of her photos as Digital Diaries. [5]

Contents

Merritt was a guest speaker at the Ars Electronica Festival in Austria [1] and in Melbourne at the AGIdeas 2002 conference. [5] In 2003 she was one of the creators of Zumanity for Cirque du Soleil. In 2008 she sold the rights for an Insect Circus to Cirque du Soleil. The show became Ovo.[ citation needed ]

Merritt has been compared to Cindy Sherman and Claude Cahun in how she has broken photographic ground in self-portraiture by redefining the boundaries of artistic photography. [6] Her work has been described as "a distinct female voice that takes candid self-revelation to new heights of wonderful indecency". [4]

In Merritt's 2012 book Sexual Selection, she compares and contrasts the sexual intricacies of plants and insects with her own sexuality. She returned to higher education to study evolutionary biology, noting "The leap makes sense when you are passionate about sex. All roads lead to evolutionary biology, speciation and genetics." [7] Sexual Selection has been called a work of art that "offer insight into universal sexuality and broaden the viewer’s sense of beauty and understanding of sexual behavior". [6]

Merritt has continued her directorial career as the creative director for a live erotic interactive event in Beverly Hills. The event was critically acclaimed. When asked by the Los Angeles Times what sort of talent she looked for in erotic performers, she said "My ideal performer was one woman who said 'I want to perform at Sanctum, become a politician and then get outed in a sex scandal so I can point out the hypocrisy,'" Merritt said. "I was like, 'You're hired.'" [8]

Merritt has been developing virtual reality content since late 2014

Books

Projection designer

In 2003 Merritt was as a creator and projection designer for Cirque du Soleil's erotic show Zumanity . [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual attraction</span> Attraction on the basis of sexual desire

Sexual attraction is attraction on the basis of sexual desire or the quality of arousing such interest. Sexual attractiveness or sex appeal is an individual's ability to attract other people sexually, and is a factor in sexual selection or mate choice. The attraction can be to the physical or other qualities or traits of a person, or to such qualities in the context where they appear. The attraction may be to a person's aesthetics, movements, voice, or smell, among other things. The attraction may be enhanced by a person's adornments, clothing, perfume or style. It can be influenced by individual genetic, psychological, or cultural factors, or to other, more amorphous qualities. Sexual attraction is also a response to another person that depends on a combination of the person possessing the traits and on the criteria of the person who is attracted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cirque du Soleil</span> Canadian contemporary circus company

Cirque du Soleil is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 June 1984 by former street performers Guy Laliberté and Gilles Ste-Croix.

<i>Kà</i> Cirque de Soleil show

is a show by Cirque du Soleil at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. describes the story as "the coming of age of a young man and a young woman through their encounters with love, conflict and the duality of , the fire that can unite or separate, destroy or illuminate."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamara Yerofeeva</span> Ukrainian rhythmic gymnast (born 1982)

Tamara Anatoliyivna Yerofeyeva is a famous individual rhythmic gymnast. She was All-Around World Champion, multiple World Cup's winner, World Universiade winner and an Olympic Game's finalist. Tamara was competing for Ukraine's National Team from 1996 to 2004 winning more than 300 medals for Ukraine at various competitions. She currently lives in Las Vegas, USA and performing with her solo hoops act at different shows including Cirque Du Soleil, Spiegelworld, David Saxe Productions and more. Also, she’s participating in all kinds of gala and corporate events around the world. One of her recent performances was at Fashion Costume Showcase of famous french designer Thierry Mugler in Montreal, Canada.

Petra Massey is a British actress, and a physical theatre performer in stage, film and television. Petra is best known for playing the "enhanced human" Sandstrom in the BBC2 sci-fi comedy series Hyperdrive from 2006 to 2007, and as one of the four members of the international comedy and physical theatre company Spymonkey.

Sexualization is the emphasis of the sexual nature of a behavior or person. Sexualization is linked to sexual objectification, treating a person solely as an object of sexual desire. According to the American Psychological Association, sexualization occurs when "individuals are regarded as sex objects and evaluated in terms of their physical characteristics and sexiness." "In study after study, findings have indicated that women more often than men are portrayed in a sexual manner and are objectified. In addition, a narrow standard of physical beauty is heavily emphasized. These are the models of femininity presented for young girls to study and emulate."

<i>Love</i> (Cirque du Soleil) 2006 theatrical production by Cirque du Soleil

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Joani Blank was an American sex educator, entrepreneur, author, videographer, cohousing enthusiast, philanthropist, and inventor in the field of sexuality. She used publishing, her sex store, and other endeavors to promote sex-positive feminism. Her papers are part of the Human Sexuality Collection at Cornell University Library.

Olga Pikhienko is a circus performer who specializes in handbalancing and contortion. Pikhienko started in rhythmic gymnastics at the age of five. When she was eleven, she started performing with her father, Sasha Pikhienko, at the Nikulin Circus based in Moscow. Olga's act with her father won them a gold medal in 1992 at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain in Paris. In 1993, they won a silver medal in Beijing, China at the World Festival.

Petra Joy is a German feminist film director, film producer, TV producer, distributor, author, and photographer. She lives in Brighton, England. Along with Candida Royalle, Annie Sprinkle, Maria Beatty, and others, she is one of the pioneers in producing pornography for women. Her genre is described as "art-core," meaning the focus is on sexuality from the female perspective, female pleasure, and creative, sensual play. Common themes in her erotic films include safe sex, men seen as sexual objects, female fantasies, and male bisexuality.

Shenea Booth is an American acrobatic gymnast who represented the United States of America at the 2001 World Games, the 2002 World Championships and the 2004 World Championships in the Mixed Pair event, along with her partner, Arthur Davis.

<i>Zumanity</i> Cirque du Soleil show

Zumanity (zoo-manity) was a resident cabaret-style show by Cirque du Soleil at the New York-New York Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, placed into the theatre previously occupied by Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance (musical). The production was unveiled on September 20, 2003 and had its last performance on March 14, 2020. It was announced on November 16, 2020 that the show would be closing permanently. It is the first "adult-themed" Cirque du Soleil show, billed as "the sensual side of Cirque du Soleil" or "another side of Cirque du Soleil". Created by René Richard Cyr and Dominic Champagne, Zumanity is a departure from the standard Cirque format. Intended to be for mature adult audiences only, this show is centered on erotic song, dance, acrobatics, and comedy.

Felix Cane is an Australian professional pole dancer, pole instructor and international champion pole dancer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex in film</span> Sex in mainstream film

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<i>The Evolution of Human Sexuality</i> 1979 book by Donald Symons

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References

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  2. Healy, Mark (June 8, 2000). "NATACHA KINKY". ROLLING STONE. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
  3. Gordon, Daphne (29 October 2000). "Portrait of the artist as a young slut ; A generation of women are taking back the once-taboo title by celebrating their sex drives in their art". Toronto Star . Retrieved 14 November 2009.
  4. 1 2 Jakubowski, Maxim (6 May 2000). "The eyes of the beholder". The Guardian . London. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
  5. 1 2 Mangan, John (27 April 2002). "California's controversial digital diarist does Melbourne". The Age . Retrieved 14 November 2009.
  6. 1 2 Baugher, Shirley (May 2012). "Natacha Merritt: Millennial Woman" . Retrieved 28 May 2012.
  7. 1 2 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-01-11. Retrieved 2012-02-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. Brown, August (29 March 2013). "Sanctum duo aim to give L.A. a fresh dose of sexuality". Los Angeles Times.
  9. "Natacha Merritt, fotografías explícitas". portavoz.tv. Feb 15, 2012. Archived from the original on September 6, 2012. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
  10. Bowman, David (May 6, 2000). "Digital Diaries: Natacha Merritt's photographs of herself giving head are a high-tech display of sexual narcissism". Salon.com. Archived from the original on March 29, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-23.
  11. Kettmann, Steve (6 September 2000). "Sexual Artist Enjoys the Freedom". wired.com. Retrieved 2009-04-23.
  12. "Cirque du Soleil". www.cirquedusoleil.com. Archived from the original on 2 February 2004. Retrieved 12 January 2022.