January 1, 2001

Brenin Hurley

On the web: Free Site

Brenin Hurley is a freelance photographer and videographer who has for a few years now been creating an artistic sort of erotica. Most of his videos feature women masturbating, though there are a few scenes of women making love with each other. But, as we have said elsewhere on this site, we tend to be of the opinion that, in a culture like ours that oppresses women's sexuality, masturbation by women is almost a political act. That makes erotica that presents women masturbating in a way that is natural and genuine, and that celebrates women's capacity for sexual pleasure, overtly political.

At this point, we have only been able to view a few of Hurley's videos. But, overall, we think they are very well done. They have an "artsy" feel, but not one that obscures the experience of the performers. Hurley's models are definitely enjoying themselves, even if they are getting paid to do it. One of the nice things about some of them, at least, is that they do a nice job of situating the scene. In "Good Morning", for example, Ashley Graham starts out looking at porn on her computer and touching herself lightly through her clothes, then moves to her bedroom when she is ready to masturbate. Similarly, in "Bittersweet", Niki Lee Young sits on her porch, re-reading a diary entry and reliving a previous experience, only to rip it out and throw it in the fireplace before settling down to masturbate.

The camera work is very nice, too, and the videos are sharp and easy on the eyes. Most of them are at 1280×720, though some are only at DVD resolution (720×408). The files are in Flash format but can easily be converted to other formats, if you wish, using any of the various tools that are available for that purpose.

Perhaps the most unusual thing about Hurley's site is that the content is all free. Really. All the videos can be watched, for free, online, and you can download them, if you wish, in any of the various ways that are available to do that. If you would like to support Hurley's work, you can also purchase MP4s via links on the site.