Skin Hunger examines the epidemic of loneliness and the service economies that have emerged in response to the growing need surrounding touch, intimacy, and connection. I have been investigating the service economy surrounding non-sexual platonic intimacy since January 2015. Real platonic human contact and interaction is available hourly, for a price, and brings with it a new set of terms and conditions regarding boundaries and consent. I explore how this new service economy has created a different form of authenticity, bound by money and time.

I began my research in Japan, where rental family and friend agencies have existed since the 1990s. It was important for me to begin my research in Japan, as this was the birthplace of the industry. After four years of research, I decided the most authentic way to document the project was to immerse myself in it.  I took my first photograph on the subject in March 2019, after hiring a Handsome Weeping Boy in Tokyo.

As platonic intimacy for hire begins to find its place in the US, it manifests itself in different ways adapting to domestic cultural norms, with one of the main focuses being non-sexual physical intimacy and touch. For six years, I collaborated with professional Cuddlers who offer paying customers the opportunity to experience non-sexual intimacy with a complete stranger. I hired my first Cuddler in 2019 and since, worked with more than three dozen, both in-person and virtually. In 2024, the series culminated in a 26 minute film called, Skin Hunger. 

At the core of this work is the evolving nature of human connection, and the fate of traditional interpersonal relationships in the face of increased technological integration, a societal shift away from social tactility. Touch, so vital to our development, is in decline, no longer safe, driven by a variety of factors from technology to infectious disease to sexual misconduct. An epochal redrawing of personal boundaries and a renewed understanding of consent has emerged while technology penetrates ever deeper into the physical and social world. The accelerating sophistication, speed and granularity of the digital landscape promises unimaginable innovation, but its magnitude brings with it important questions regarding the implications of these changes, most pertinently to our most common physical reality.