LCR HISTORICAL ARCHIVE · 2014–2016
WEFETISH
International Fetish Photography Contest
From 2014 to 2016, Leather Club Roma brought international fetish photography into Fetish Pride Italy, making the contest a space for visual exploration, culture and international exchange.
PHOTOGRAPHY, CULTURE, COMMUNITY
A Leather Club Roma cultural project
WeFetish was an international fetish photography contest organised by Leather Club Roma as part of Fetish Pride Italy. The selection of works and exchange between photographers were accompanied by an exhibition: images moved beyond the digital world to meet an audience in Rome.
Alongside club life and community gatherings, LCR created opportunities to produce and share culture. Within Fetish Pride Italy, WeFetish ran alongside the Roma Fetish Film Festival: photography and cinema offered different ways to explore identity, imagery and fetish representation.
This account brings together evidence from the three documented editions, distinguishing confirmed information from gaps still being investigated.
THE DOCUMENT
The image of an exhibition
The poster describes WeFetish as an international fetish photography exhibition. Its central eye contains a mosaic of images; the bilingual text reflects the international scope of the project.
The document is preserved in full. Individual embedded images are not assigned titles or creators, as these still require archival identification.
01 / 2014
The first edition
Contemporary press records the first edition in 2014: more than 50 photographers submitted over 130 photographs. An international jury selected 25 finalists, which were then put to an online public vote. The public result was combined with the jury’s result.
The exhibition opened on 23 February 2014 at Mondrian Suite Contemporary Art Space, Via dei Piceni 41/43, in Rome’s San Lorenzo district. Contemporary sources give different closing dates, so this archive records the confirmed opening without assigning a single closing date.
Documentation: ViviRoma, February 2014; Il Grande Colibrì, 20 February 2014.
Documented photographers and works
Haus Mein Gott
Documented entrant. In February 2014, Il Grande Colibrì described him as the only Italian photographer in the contest.
Ulli Richter
Hunging Jesus — a work documented in the WeFetish 2014 edition by ViviRoma’s report.
Christine Dengate
Rubber Reflection — a work documented in the WeFetish 2014 edition by ViviRoma’s report.
Matt Spike
Nominated in 2014, as he recalled in the interview published by Recon on 19 May 2015.
Taco D. Smit
The photographer’s MorepiXX profile records a WEFETISH Award in 2014.
Alejandro Caspe
A later source recovered during historical research links the photographer to a WeFetish win in Rome in 2014.
Photographs in the contemporary press
The original ViviRoma page
A work documented at WeFetish 2014. Reproduced from ViviRoma, February 2014, PDF page 40. Original source resolution.
A work documented at WeFetish 2014. Reproduced from ViviRoma, February 2014, PDF page 40. Original source resolution.
The reproductions recovered from ViviRoma’s report are small: they are presented at the resolution preserved by the source, without artificial enlargement.
An exhibition and a participatory contest
The 2014 process combined two stages: an initial jury selection and online public participation. The 25 finalist works could be voted for online; the public vote contributed to the result alongside the jury’s vote.
wefetish.com/publicvote/This address is preserved as an archival record of the voting process, without suggesting that the service is still active.
02 / 2015
The international network grows
The 2015 edition emerges through artist biographies and specialist press accounts. These sources preserve names and journeys, even where the full selection of photographs cannot yet be reconstructed.
DOCUMENTED AWARD
Sly Hands
The MorepiXX archive names Sly Hands as the winner of the WeFetish Photo Award 2015. The exact winning photograph has not yet been identified with certainty.
FINALIST
Elena Ketra
Elena Ketra, also known as Elena Pizzato, records in her CV her selection as a 2015 finalist in the International Fetish Photography Awards for Fetish Pride Italy in Rome.
SELECTED AGAIN
Matt Spike
In his May 2015 Recon interview, he discussed his new nomination and the exhibition of his work in a Roman gallery. One photograph featured model Luca Gatti; the source does not allow a specific image to be identified here.
“I’m thrilled that my pieces are up in a gallery in Rome.”
Matt Spike · Recon, 19 May 2015
Photographers’ portfolio images are not automatically treated as works selected or awarded at WeFetish. This distinction is essential to reconstructing the contest’s history accurately.
FROM THE PORTFOLIO / 2017
Through Sly Hands’ eyes
An image published among the results of MorepiXX 2017. The photographer won the WeFetish Photo Award 2015; this image illustrates his visual language and has not been identified as his winning 2015 work. The watermark in the original reproduction is preserved.
03 / 2016
WeFetish at Coming Out and Roma BDSM Conference
In 2016, the international exhibition appears in the official programme of the third Fetish Pride Italy. The calendar distinguishes the exhibition period from the opening event on 24 February.
Coming Out Bar & Shop
Exhibition in Via San Giovanni in Laterano, Rome.
Official opening
The WeFetish exhibition opening at Coming Out Bar & Shop.
Roma BDSM Conference
The exhibition continues at Hotel Mercure Roma West, Viale Eroi di Cefalonia 301.
Taco D. Smit
The MorepiXX profile documents a WEFETISH Award win in 2016.
Other documented participants
Max Samauth / Samauth Photography
Historical research documents Max Samauth among photographers in WeFetish’s public voting stage, through an old social media record linking to wefetish.com/publicvote/; the exact edition has yet to be identified. The original reference must be recovered in a stable form before assigning his participation to one of the three years.
An international dimension
WeFetish brought different artists and photographic networks into dialogue. Accounts by Haus Mein Gott and Matt Spike, the CVs of Elena Ketra and Johann and records of awards received by Sly Hands and Taco D. Smit describe a network spanning cultural settings and international fetish communities.
Its historical value lies in this meeting of perspectives: presenting photography as an exploration of images and identities, and bringing photographers, works and audiences together within a community event.
The legacy of WeFetish
WeFetish did not continue after 2016. In a historical BOX Magazin interview, Taco D. Smit recalled Leather Club Roma’s decision to discontinue the contest. Having received two WeFetish awards, documented for 2014 and 2016, he founded MorepiXX.
MorepiXX can be considered an informal, unofficial successor to the WeFetish experience. Out described this relationship in 2017. MorepiXX is a separate project and not an official continuation of Leather Club Roma’s contest.
Reconstructing WeFetish also preserves part of the club’s cultural history: a short-lived project, documented across three editions, connecting Rome’s community with a wider network of photographers and images.
THREE DOCUMENTED EDITIONS
The timeline
The first edition
More than 50 photographers, over 130 photographs and 25 finalists. An international jury, a public vote and an exhibition at Mondrian Suite.
The photographers’ network
Sly Hands won; Elena Ketra was a finalist; Matt Spike was selected again and exhibited in Rome.
The last documented edition
Coming Out and Roma BDSM Conference. Taco D. Smit won; Johann recorded participation among exhibitions and competitions.
AN ARCHIVE BEING RECONSTRUCTED
Help us preserve this history
Historical documentation of WeFetish is now fragmented. Leather Club Roma is gradually reconstructing the names, works, images and materials of its three editions through its own archive, contemporary sources, photographers’ portfolios and public documentation.
If you took part in WeFetish or have photographs, posters, catalogues or original materials from the 2014–2016 editions, please contact Leather Club Roma.
DOCUMENTATION
Sources and archives consulted
- Leather Club Roma — Club history and Fetish Pride Italy 2016, official programme.
- ViviRoma — February 2014, WeFetish report.
- Il Grande Colibrì — interview with Haus Mein Gott, 20 February 2014.
- Recon — interview with Matt Spike, 19 May 2015.
- MorepiXX — Taco D. Smit; Winners 2017, account of Sly Hands’ 2015 award.
- Out — Matt Baume, Behind the Power-Play & Psychology of Fetish Photography, 15 February 2017.
- Johann — Artist Biography, exhibitions and competitions.
- Elena Ketra — artist’s CV; Exibart Prize — Elena Ketra / Elena Pizzato.
- BOX Magazin — historical interview with Taco D. Smit; BOX no. 295, January 2018 — interview with Alejandro Caspe. Some BOX archive references require further retrieval.
- Bishopsgate Institute — Matt Spike Archive, 2014–2018, a reference for further research into the photographer’s work.
Image note: the poster comes from materials provided by the LCR archive. Photographs carry credits, context and links to their original editorial sources. Rights remain with the respective creators; the available documentation does not constitute a reuse licence. The editorial date of 23 February 2014 recalls the opening of the first exhibition; this text is a retrospective reconstruction updated in 2026.
THE PHOTOGRAPHERS’ VISUAL LANGUAGE
More images from the international network
Three photographs by creators documented in WeFetish’s history, published in the separate MorepiXX competition in 2017. These images broaden the visual journey; they are not presented as works selected at WeFetish.
