Jhoan Giraldo’s career path didn’t follow the usual climb up a corporate ladder—it exploded out of the cubicle with a flash of nudity and a deep dive into the male body. The Medellín-born photographer, now the creator of the sizzling photo book From Sin to Light, didn’t just walk away from his office job—he ran into the arms (and laps) of erotic art.
Raised in a city Jhoan calls “conservative on the outside, chaotic underneath,” he grew up watching double standards thrive. “Here, people whisper about two men holding hands while turning a blind eye to sugar daddies dating minors,” he explained. It’s this very hypocrisy that drove him toward visual storytelling. “I had freedom early on to explore my body and other boys’, but I knew that wasn’t the norm—and that contradiction became fuel for my work.”
From Cam Shows to Camera Shots
Before he could afford camera gear, Jhoan stripped—literally. Webcam modeling paid the bills and led directly to his first clients. “While most photographers start with weddings or products, I started with nudes,” he said. It wasn’t just about paying rent—it was about finding power in pleasure. That unapologetic gaze defines his work, which is anything but clinical. “When I shoot an ejaculation, I don’t want a safe shot—I want you to feel it.”
His debut book is a visual feast of sweaty skin and formal experimentation. What began as a provocative idea—666 nude photos sprawled across a cathedral floor—evolved into something more intimate. Though the original concept was whittled down, the soul of the project remained: male bodies as sacred objects of desire. But not all bodies. “Most participants had ideal physiques,” Jhoan admits, “which wasn’t the goal.” Still, the book pushes back against the notion that pleasure is dirty, shameful, or niche.
Even Jhoan’s decision to shoot in black and white—once meant to veil the explicitness in ‘art’—now feels like a limitation. “I was censoring myself,” he said. Now? He’s ditching monochrome and going full technicolor in his next book.
Queer, Proud, and in Control
What makes Jhoan’s work so important for the global queer community isn’t just its sensuality—it’s the power it reclaims. In a world where LGBTQ bodies are often commodified, politicized, or erased, his photos scream: We are here. We are desirable. We own our pleasure.
That message resonates far beyond Medellín. As countries battle over what queer visibility looks like in public space, Jhoan turns up the volume on liberation through unapologetic intimacy. “If people feel something when they see my work, I’ve done my job. If they see beauty in it—that’s just a bonus.”
His next challenge? Pointing the camera inward. “I’m photographing myself now. It’s not just art—it’s a way to love my body and enjoy how others see it.”
For Jhoan Giraldo, erotic photography isn’t just a genre. It’s a declaration: sexuality isn’t a sin—it’s light, it’s freedom, and it’s art.