The house is not for Barbie: men who dress up as sex dolls
There are people who feel an acute desire to hide behind a mask, to become a completely different person, being, or even a thing. A simple disguise allows them to hide for a short time from the responsibility and expectations that society presents to them. Under the protection of masks, they feel free.
Representatives of this subculture prefer a female mask to their own face. Fetishists turn themselves not just into women, but into living sex dolls.
(17 photos in total)
Traditionally, maskers are completely clothed in latex. A face mask is made of this material, as well as a costume imitating the anatomy of the female body. Then there is room for imagination: men either wear latex clothes, or choose everyday women's things. All together turns them into walking sex objects.
Daniel Handal, author of the series
At that moment, the photographer was literally obsessed with a fetish that had been in hiding for so long.
Daniel Handal, author of the series
Soon Daniel managed to get to the World Meeting of Rubber Women (Rubberdoll World Rendezvous) — all the maskers gathered here. Throughout the event, Handal did not let the camera out of his hands. The masking fetish is based on role-playing games and exhibitionism, which means that most of the participants were just eager to get under the scope of his camera.
Daniel Handal, author of the series
At the meeting, which took place in Minneapolis, Daniel made a series of portraits. Later, the photographer filmed the maskers at the same events in Baltimore and New York. It is difficult to call these series anything other than a staged documentary chronicle: masked people are perceived as walking parts of a large performance.
The main difficulty that Handal faced was connected with the main unspoken rule of meetings — "people in civilian clothes" are not allowed to enter. The photographer had to become a latex woman himself.
Daniel Handal, author of the series
Daniel Handal's series is a chronicle of a hidden world where becoming something else means being yourself. The pictures are both strange and nevertheless human, real. They reflect a person's zealous desire to escape, reincarnate and play.
Keywords: Dolls | Latex | Sex toy | Sexuality | Fetish | Photography