Shiny happy people

Project Latex Land is a photographic rubber reverie
From Hour.ca

This Friday, for one night only, you can enter the fantasy world of a latex enthusiast, somebody who likes (as in really likes) to wear rubber. Project Latex Land is a first-time collaboration by Montreal fetish and glamour photographers Gil Perron and Martin Perreault. In the eight oversize mise-en-scène photographs, friends have a barbeque in the backyard, construction workers jackhammer downtown, and grocery shoppers buy hamburger buns... but all in second-skin pants, thigh-high boots and rubber masks. There's also a lot more tits and ass than at your regular weekday 5 à 7.

Life in Project Latex Land might look shocking, but it's not supposed to be. Instead, the photos explore a brightly coloured, tight-fitting castle in the sky for latex lovers. "Most enthusiasts have a deep desire to wear fetish gear in everyday places," explains Perron, "and that's what Project Latex Land is about. For one guy in our photos, a university professor from Sweden, it was the first time he wore his latex in public. The photo shoot was his rubber coming-out party."

Montreal, a city with a sizable latex lover population, was the perfect place to create a bizarro rubber reality. Perron and Perreault put out an open call for participants over the Internet. All of the people in the photos are true-to-life fetishists from Montreal and around the world. Most are wearing their own rubber in the photos. Polymorphe, a famed Montreal latex designer, styled the rest in homegrown minis, corsets and one-piece
suits.

The project, which Perron dreamed up one afternoon over lunch, was a chance for both artists to try something new. For Perreault especially, a photographer best known for his photos of Montreal fetish sex symbol Bianca Beauchamp, it was a chance to try his hand at directing a photo shoot with up to 40 rubberists. But for both artists, Project Latex Land was, well, a whole lot of good clean fun.

So would Perron and Perreault want to live in the fantasy world they created? "No," they laugh. "You can't live in a daydream," smiles Perreault. Plus, there are practical setbacks. "Latex is a tough material to wear year-round," adds Perron. "It gets too cold here in the winter; it's also hard to wear latex when it's really hot." Try telling that to the guy in one photo, who's sliding headfirst into a kiddie pool in heels and hot pants.

Project Latex Land
At 917 Ste-Catherine, Aug. 31 only, starting at 8 p.m.
The exhibition kicks off Montreal Fetish Weekend, three days of fetish fun
www.projectlatexland.com
www.fetishweekend.com
www.martinperreault.com

I wish I could have timed my visit to this weekend, but alas, it was impossible. The latex weekend sponsored by Fetiche Store and Polymorphe tied into Pride Weekend which followed up this event would have been interesting to see as well. Maybe. As much as I like to see anyone in rubber, it's the men in skintight latex that do it for me, personally!