- beautifulagony.com
Beautiful Agony was conceived in 2003 by a group of friends interested in testing the "hypothesis that eroticism in human imagery rests not in naked flesh and sexual illustration, but engagement with the face."
The group began uploading non-nude videos of their faces as they went from arousal to orgasm. As the project gained traction, users from around the world began submitting videos of their own orgasms and sexual confessions. Beautiful Agony now operates like other adult sites with a monthly subscription fee that grants users access to the site's climax catalogue.
The project offers an interesting cross-section of what average people look and sound like while experiencing sexual ecstasy. However, the site's creators are a bit overzealous when describing the appeal of this brand of erotica over more mainstream forms of pornography.
"We wondered whether film of a genuine, unscripted, natural orgasm - showing only the face - could succeed where the most visceral mainstream pornography fails, and that is, to actually turn us on... Considering porn has had a few thousand years to evolve, alongside other streams of culture - you'd expect it to be refined and sophisticated. Yet instead of developing in sophistication and nuance, it has become a brutal and charmless rendering of human sexuality. It's like the people who make it, don't really understand it. While they've been very entrepreneurial and driven the uptake of new technologies, pornographers have forsaken the essentials of eroticism in favour of clichés and an obsessive pursuit of extremes."
Most pornographers don't produce content like that featured on BeautifulAgony.com because so few people are willing to pay for such videos. Mainstream porn doesn't offer a realistic depiction of human sexuality, but it does present an accurate representation of the sexual fantasies that appeal to male consumers.
As evidence of just how few people are willing to pay for their specific niche of face-porn, BeautifulAgony.com is asking for donations to keep the project afloat.
"Without your help, Agony is in danger of extinction. Please do the honorable thing, JOIN NOW and help us bring you the exquisite delights of real human orgasm! Even better, submit your own."
While the website may not be economically sustainable, it has succeeded in at least one area where most porn sites struggle: attracting female users. Beautiful Agony has done such a good job promoting a positive image of sexuality that its content is entirely user generated.
See the climax catalogue for yourself, or submit your own video at beautifulagony.com.
