"You should really do a blog posting on reflectoporn," says my friend over dinner last night (Mexican. El Trompo in Kensington Market. Yum).
"?" I reply.
For all the hours I spend online, at work and at play, there still always seems to be some subcultural back corridor that I'm surprised to stumble into (or, more often than not, be told about.) Reflectoporn is one of them.
Seems (according to the invaluable Snopes.com) that back in 2001, some Bruce posted an advert on an auction site in Australia offering a silver kettle for sale. It doesn't take very close examination of the reflection in the kettle to determine that the photographer is male and naked as the day he was born (though, presumably, hairier).
Accident? You'd like to think so, wouldn't you? According to Snopes, though, a trace of his user ID found him to be one of a group of people posting similar pics on a variety of auction sites.
The practice of reflectoporn continues to this day. There are several photos collected on the Snopes page here. (Warning: Funhouse mirror nudity. Viewer discretion is advised.)
As screening practices for public sites become more assiduous, it becomes more difficult for the burgeoning exhibitionist to flaunt his or her wares. Thus -- based entirely on my assumption, as I'm not inclined to do any further research on the topic -- reflectopornographers must find cleverer and cleverer ways to insinuate their work into the project. In the mirror well out of way of the focal point of the photo. In the polished and buffed hardwood floor in front of the wall unit. You get the, uh, picture.
While this posting may seem just a brazen effort to use dubious keywords to draw traffic, my dinner companion did raise a valid sociological point: Without the Internet, what would these people do? Would trenchcoat sales go through the roof? Would they find some quirky but harmless hobby, like butterfly tagging?
Begging a related, but perhaps more consequential question: Does the forum and accessibility of the Internet feed exhibitionist behaviour, or does it cause that behaviour?
Must go. Got a disco ball to sell on eBay. Gotta take pictures.