Come Back To Bed

Author(s): Robert Tennent

Art | New Zealand Authors | For Survivors | Photography

After being sexually assaulted in early 2017, I entered a period of celibacy. For those 5 months, I rediscovered self-love and was ready to reintroduce sex into my life. I began to explore different aspects of sex. Along the way, I was taking photos of the men I spent time with. This was a personal collection for me to reflect on. I wanted to share my journey with people that appreciate the male body and also the diversity regarding body types.


These photos documented the moments shared between me and these men. This is not a book about an assault victim. This is about lust and love and the difference between sex and love. I wanted to be able to have consensual sex and have it be completely meaningless. This book has stories that are told from my point of view. These stories are about the moments I shared with these men. Travelling stories, goodbye stories and stories of a sexual nature. The book also contains pages of quotes said by these men to me. The book is an extremely personal and intimate project for me and I am excited to show people the images I have taken and the stories I have told.


Product Information

'After he was sexually assaulted, photographer Robert Tennent eliminated sex from his life for some time. Now he has released a book and exhibition, focused on his rediscovery and exploration of sexual intimacy. Come Back to Bed is a series of anonymous, but intimate photographs of the lovers he's taken since the assault. For Tennent, he says it was a gradual process of reclaiming sexual experience on his own terms—and the trust he placed in his partners was mimicked by them entrusting him with their photographs.' -- Vice

'Come Back To Bed is Robert Tennent’s photographic project; a book featuring the interactions and conversations he had with 13 men following an assault. It is a journey of sexual liberation, and an exploration into raw, human intimacy.  Robert is remarkably brave, inadvertently advocating for the experiences of many still silenced by their own experiences of abuse... [it is also] the slow journey of discovering intimacy once more.' --Out

General Fields

  • : 9780473431372
  • : Robert Tennent
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Robert Tennent