Patently Erotic

Hot on the stilettos of Patently Ridiculous comes Patently Erotic, Richard Ross foray into the nexus of American capitalism, inventiveness - and sex. In this latest collection of actual patent applications, the author delves once again into the archives of the U.S. Patent Office to take a look at contraptions designed to titillate and facilitate. Accompanied by commentary from the author, and illustrated by the inventors' own diagrams, inventions such as force-sensitive, sound-playing condoms and lap dance liners provide a revealing look at our issues with intimacy.

RICHARD ROSS is an award-winning photographer and professor at the University of California-ùSanta Barbara. His photographs have appeared in the New York Times magazine, Los Angeles Times magazine, Discover, Vogue, the J. Paul Getty Museum and in galleries throughout the world. He lives by the ocean and walks his dog with a conventional leash.