More Magic, Less Mike

At a recent screening of Magic Mike in Manhattan's Chelsea Clearview Cinema, as kenneth in the (212) reports, photographer Kevin McDermott and model Todd Sanfield added some vérité to the event by promoting their own book of erotic male images, MOTEL | HOTEL.

The book, published by the independent Ten Avenues Press, plays into the fantasy of transient encounters, and the locations they're had, by photographing Sanfield in both a low-class motel on the outskirts of Detroit and a high-class hotel in its downtown.

As Magic Mike shows, the success of these things is a lot more dependent on the fantasy elements than the reality ones. Just as Dallas' club transforms seedy Tampa into a hotbed of desire in the film, McDermott's photos here transform mundane Detroit into a sexualized fantasy space. We're almost sure that if we went to the places featured in the book, our most sensual encounter would be with freshly washed towels or the remote control. But, thanks to these images, a little part of us would still hope for Todd Sanfield to be there waiting for us, wrapped up in the sheets.

· MOTEL | HOTEL