It was 2010.
Somehow, perhaps while trolling through the bowels of Tumblr, I came across something I had never seen. It was porn, but somehow more. Instead of the cookie-cutter scenes popular on most adult sites, I was watching something with creativity. Instead of following the same old formula, this video was different. It was the first time I watched a Black Spark film – and it took my breath away.
No one really knows who the Black Spark is, and it’s exceedingly difficult to find his work today. In his short career, he released a handful of films – maybe one or two dozen – and a few can be found by searching Tumblr. In fact, I was able to find (a censored) clip from one video on YouTube.
For a few short months, I was captivated by the content that Black Spark created. I wondered why something like this had never been done – and thought it might be a game changer for the world of gay porn. But the Black Spark flamed burned hard and bright… perhaps too hard and too bright for its own good. As quickly as Black Spark came, he disappeared. And gay porn returned to the status quo; there was no revolution.
But for me, Black Spark shifted something. It was the first time that I had seen gay sex portrayed in a way that was truly beautiful – and it was the first time I watched a film that did justice to the experience of sex. Even if the porn industry was unchanged, I was.
If I’m being completely honest with myself, I don’t think that I would have created Himeros.tv without the inspiration that Black Spark provided. Black Spark opened a door for me, and showed me what’s possible.
And that’s why I filmed this week’s video as a tribute to this fleeting muse.
