34 Photos of Sex and Madness in Serbia

Serbian photographer Nikola Djukich lives the intense life of an artist who never stops feeling, never stops perceiving the layers of meaning in what the world presents.

Here in his words:

"I am a fine art and erotic photographer based in Novi Sad, Serbia. I create photographs that tell a story of the weird world of human beauty and psyche. I am inspired by antic and Renaissance art, philosophy and religion, so I often use certain symbolism in my works as a reference.

"As an artist, through the concepts I deal with, I want to express my view of the world surrounding me, but also to problematize the usual representations of the naked male body in the contemporary social, political, and aesthetic context, as well as in the inner and emotional sense.

"Over the period of 10 years I managed to build a characteristic style that often borders with a kitsch and grotesque, but shaped with spirituality and poetry. Perhaps at first glance this is not so obvious, but the essence and meaning of my entire work is in fact a quest for self and self-knowledge, on the one hand, by exploring myself, while on the other, by exploring the others.

"Being a gay artist in Serbia, which is a very conservative and patriarchally oriented country, is a bit difficult because it is still taboo here and people still look at it as something that is inappropriate and rude, especially when dealing with topics such as eroticism and sexuality. I believe that people are still scared and they still live in the comfort zone, since until the mid-'90s homosexuality was characterized as a disease and a criminal offense. But it also gradually changes, which is good and gives freedom to people to express themselves.

"It took five or six years for people to start paying attention to my work and not to consider it as that extreme or offensive, but it still happens that Facebook blocks me, although I censor my certain works. There are many people with false morals, but, well, my mission is to persist in doing my thing. "

Much of Nikola's work is too explicit for our pages, so if you are curious about that, please see his website and follow him on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Tumblr.