Robert Tennent is a 19 year old photographer living in Auckland, New Zealand. Born in Cambodia to a Vietnamese mother and a Caucasian father. He spent the first 7 years of his life living in Cambodia. He lived in St Lucia and Papua New Guinea before settling in New Zealand when he was 13. Robert published his first book ’Come Back to Bed’ that tackles the reintroduction of sex after assault.
About ‘Come Back to Bed’:
It was one of the blurriest nights of my life. To this day, I still do not remember what happened to me before I woke up. But I knew I didn’t want him to do what he was doing. My body rejected it. He assaulted me.
I found comfort in being alone. I abstained from sex. I had to rediscover my sexuality. After five months of celibacy, I found a man that I trusted. We had sex. I pulled my camera out and asked him if I could take a photo. He said yes and I snapped a few frames. This became something I wanted to do for myself. I wanted to collect these images for myself. After 13 men, I edited them all into a photography book called ‘Come Back to Bed’.
I was never pressured to finish this book. There were times when I thought the world wasn’t ready for something like this. I was afraid of how those around me would react. I shelved the project many times. Towards the beginning of March, I found someone and we quickly fell in love. I knew that the book could not continue because that chapter of my life was over. I worked on the book day and night and finally was satisfied. I didn’t know how it would do or how people would treat it. I don’t know how to thank everyone. I wish to create more art that will bring everyone together, to speak about topics we need to discuss.
