Cuero En Teoría

Cuero En Teoría

Written by Atlas Fielding

Photography by: Divangely Castillo Hdez

At just 20 years old, Dominican photographer and camera assistant Divangely Castillo Hernandez stepped into Cabaña Costa Azul for the first time. During her internship in the camera department, her team rented a love hotel to recreate a character's room. The opulence of the space left an indelible mark on her.

"I've always had this fascination with the concept of cabañas because when you step into the room you can sense all the sexual energy from all these strangers. It's so cultural here. A lot of people live with their families, so they go to a motel to explore themselves…when we got there, I had never been in a cabaña before, and the image was imprinted in my brain," she recalls.

Shortly after, she watched Amateur, starring Isabelle Huppert. Something clicked. The film's contrast of a former nun who writes erotic fiction resonated deeply with her own lived experiences.

"It reminded me of what it feels like to be celibate. It reminded me of how it feels to be a woman," she explains. "We are constantly viewed in extremes - on one hand, you're to be a nun, a virgin, you're like this... untouchable being. Then on the other hand, you're a porn star, this whore, you know? I saw these images in my mind when I saw Amateur. I wanted to use this space, this space we use for all the sick fantasies you might have, and I put the virgin here, because at the end of the day, these are just characters that were created by men to suppress women's sexuality. Growing up in a Catholic school, I was taught that sexuality for a woman is bad… but these two extremes are inside of us always."

Her photo series, Cuero En Teoría, reminds women that we must own our desires, fantasies, and wants. When women are repressed, external misogyny becomes internalized shame. The integration of one's sacredness and sexuality comes through interplay between nature and societal expectations.

"The whore comes out in our style... it comes out when we dance, when we see ourselves in the mirror and we feel hot."

Diva emphasizes that not everything needs to be overtly sexualized, critiquing the judgment that often dominates these narratives and the way women reflect the male gaze back onto themselves and one another. Through her work, Diva challenges the dichotomy of the virgin and the whore, and this series invites viewers to consider the complexity of female desire and the impact of cultural control on women's self-perception and expression.

Photoshoot Title: Cuero en Teoría ("Whore in Theory")

Developed and scanned film by @d.v444 (Divangely Castillo Hdez.)

Model: @dozy.jpg (Melissa Rubio)

Styling and nails: @local___god (Flor Alma Reinoso)

Makeup: @limomelon (Lía Bidó)

Gaffer: @jeremygarrrr (Jeremy García)

Photography Assistant: @sbtn000 (Sebastian Viñas)

Behind the Scenes: @macarbity (Mary Carmen Bidó)