Dutch website Beautiful Agony, a 'multi-media experiment', invites ordinary people to film their orgasm faces (from the neck up only) and post them online for others to pay to watch.
The concept was born in 2003 among a handful of friends, including Richard Lawrence and Lauren Olney, who uploaded their own videos to the site.
But as popularity grew the friends opened the site up to all and began charging to watch the videos in order to pay contributors.
Emily, a 21-year-old university student, is one of three women who spoke to new women's online magazine thedebrief.co.uk about her involvement in the project.
"At first I was a little bit nervous that I wasn’t going to be obvious enough. I don’t usually make noise or, you know, move around that much when I come - but for this I was pretty sure I’d need to put on a bit of a show.
I waited until none of my housemates were home and figured this was as good an excuse as any to lie down in the middle of the hallway completely naked and film myself having a w***."
She uploaded the video to the site, making it available for thousands of fee-paying viewers to see her intimate moment. And she's not the only one.
While most women appearing in mainstream pornography reach the screaming heights of ecstasy without so much as smudging their lipgloss, on Beautiful Agony the faces range from the raunchy to the ridiculous.
Lauren Olney, who co-created the website, explained: "We publish user-submitted videos - male and female - in which the contributor is having an orgasm, without any visual cues as to what's happening below the waist.
Me and the site’s co-creator Richard were talking about how uninspiring we found the porn out there – all those acted-out sex scenes where everything is faked. Instead of complaining, we decided to do something about it."
That was 10 years ago, but as the site prepares to celebrate its anniversary next month, it's clear their vision has proved to be a powerful formula.
Today there are over 3,000 participants uploading videos to the site– most of whom are women.
Emily explains why the craze is so appealing: "My mind was just totally blown. There was no nudity but it was so sexy and I was so turned on by it.
I thought it would be hot – being part of some huge sexy compendium of wanking habits. And when else do you get a chance to see what you actually look like when you come?"
But the contributors aren’t just doing it to add to the conversation. Every person sumbitting a video gets paid around £120, plus more money depending on how many people actually click through to view their videos.
"I don’t think any girls would do it for the cash," insists Kate, a 25-year-old fashion designer, who's submitted a video and had a previous bad experience with a boyfriend revealing intimate pictures of her to his friends.
Maybe if they were paying thousands, but £120 isn’t that much, is it? I think girls want to do it because they want to share a sexual experience that’s safe and supportive and – most importantly – values consent.
Beautiful Agony basically helped me take the control back by sharing my sexuality in a way that I was all right with.
Others, however, say they found it more challenging. ‘The filming was definitely harder than I thought it would be," says Lizbeth, a 21-year-old design student who submitted her video because she thought that the ‘orgasm face’ is pretty much the last taboo.
"Any tiny mistake ruins a take. If a nipple popped into frame, the lighting was too dark or music could be heard in the background, we'd have to start again. It took ages.
I had to film in loads of different rooms and finally found a spot where the light was alright and my housemates couldn't see me! And it’s hard to switch it on, relax and “perform” when there’s a massive camera pointing in your face."
But Lizbeth says that once she'd submitted it she didn't feel any weirdness about the fact they'd be a bunch of strangers paying to watch her come.
‘Whatever, they’re never going to meet me! It’s not like they’re getting the real deal.
"My orgasm is possibly causing heaps of orgasms for heaps more people and that’s awesome! Hooray! Orgasms for everybody!"
The concept was born in 2003 among a handful of friends, including Richard Lawrence and Lauren Olney, who uploaded their own videos to the site.
But as popularity grew the friends opened the site up to all and began charging to watch the videos in order to pay contributors.
Emily, a 21-year-old university student, is one of three women who spoke to new women's online magazine thedebrief.co.uk about her involvement in the project.
"At first I was a little bit nervous that I wasn’t going to be obvious enough. I don’t usually make noise or, you know, move around that much when I come - but for this I was pretty sure I’d need to put on a bit of a show.
I waited until none of my housemates were home and figured this was as good an excuse as any to lie down in the middle of the hallway completely naked and film myself having a w***."
She uploaded the video to the site, making it available for thousands of fee-paying viewers to see her intimate moment. And she's not the only one.
While most women appearing in mainstream pornography reach the screaming heights of ecstasy without so much as smudging their lipgloss, on Beautiful Agony the faces range from the raunchy to the ridiculous.
Lauren Olney, who co-created the website, explained: "We publish user-submitted videos - male and female - in which the contributor is having an orgasm, without any visual cues as to what's happening below the waist.
Me and the site’s co-creator Richard were talking about how uninspiring we found the porn out there – all those acted-out sex scenes where everything is faked. Instead of complaining, we decided to do something about it."
That was 10 years ago, but as the site prepares to celebrate its anniversary next month, it's clear their vision has proved to be a powerful formula.
Today there are over 3,000 participants uploading videos to the site– most of whom are women.
Emily explains why the craze is so appealing: "My mind was just totally blown. There was no nudity but it was so sexy and I was so turned on by it.
I thought it would be hot – being part of some huge sexy compendium of wanking habits. And when else do you get a chance to see what you actually look like when you come?"
But the contributors aren’t just doing it to add to the conversation. Every person sumbitting a video gets paid around £120, plus more money depending on how many people actually click through to view their videos.
"I don’t think any girls would do it for the cash," insists Kate, a 25-year-old fashion designer, who's submitted a video and had a previous bad experience with a boyfriend revealing intimate pictures of her to his friends.
Maybe if they were paying thousands, but £120 isn’t that much, is it? I think girls want to do it because they want to share a sexual experience that’s safe and supportive and – most importantly – values consent.
Beautiful Agony basically helped me take the control back by sharing my sexuality in a way that I was all right with.
Others, however, say they found it more challenging. ‘The filming was definitely harder than I thought it would be," says Lizbeth, a 21-year-old design student who submitted her video because she thought that the ‘orgasm face’ is pretty much the last taboo.
"Any tiny mistake ruins a take. If a nipple popped into frame, the lighting was too dark or music could be heard in the background, we'd have to start again. It took ages.
I had to film in loads of different rooms and finally found a spot where the light was alright and my housemates couldn't see me! And it’s hard to switch it on, relax and “perform” when there’s a massive camera pointing in your face."
But Lizbeth says that once she'd submitted it she didn't feel any weirdness about the fact they'd be a bunch of strangers paying to watch her come.
‘Whatever, they’re never going to meet me! It’s not like they’re getting the real deal.
"My orgasm is possibly causing heaps of orgasms for heaps more people and that’s awesome! Hooray! Orgasms for everybody!"
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