Whangarei Photography exhibition Intimate Encounters, by Australian photographer Belinda Mason, touching

A Day at the Beach, portrait of Sam and Michael Jenkins - by Belinda Mason.

Heart-warming isn't a phrase I'd often use to describe the experience of viewing a photography exhibition.

But in the case of Intimate Encounters, a body of work by Australian photographer Belinda Mason, dealing with sexuality and disability, it's quite true.

My cynical heart was positively toasty upon visiting the Shutter Room next to the Whangarei Public Library.

The photos on display are collaborations between the photographer and the subjects, who all have mental or physical disabilities.

Their common concern is to express the many-sided role sex and sexuality plays in their lives. A taboo subject perhaps, but what is more 'normal' than having a desire for touch, intimacy and sexual pleasure?

Domestic Bliss, portrait of Ingrid and Robert Hindell.

What's challenging about the exhibition is that many of the individuals involved have chosen to show themselves naked or engaged in acts of intimacy for the camera. The bodies 'on display' aren't the toned and perfectly proportioned bodies we normally see in movies, music videos and advertising. But they still claim a right to be sexy.

The skill of the photographer is such that the photos are never sleazy or pornographic. The hopefulness, the love of self and other, comes across so strongly that you can't help but be moved.

Domestic Bliss is emblematic of this impact. It's one of the most effective images of intimate and loving sex that I've ever seen. The wheelchair is hardly noticed, as mundane as the couch in the background, or the disinterested dog lying on the floor. It is what it is, a natural part of life.

What's so successful about the exhibition, and there are 40 works on display, is the multiple angles, so to speak, in which sex is explored. Sexuality here is shown as adventurous, reserved and private, playful and fun, risky and experimental.

Leaving aside the issue of people with disabilities, you're reminded how multifaceted sexuality is, and how difficult to pigeon-hole. Like all aspects of human culture, it's constantly changing and evolving, even if the basic logistics remain the same.

.I am Nick, portrait of Nick Hogan.

There's a couple of photos I liked in particular because of the way they undermined popular media images.

One is A Day at the Beach, of Sam and Michael Jenkins embracing on a sandy beach as a wave washes over them. A scene made famous by the movie From Here to Eternity and repeated often since.

The difference here is the wheelchair that's out of focus in the top right corner of the photo. Such acts of wanton passion, the photos says, aren't just for able-bodied Hollywood beauties.

Yet the image raises a smile, because it's so staged. The reality of lying in the sand with your partner trying to have a 'hot' moment is, I imagine, not easily achieved. Has anyone ever actually tried it?

The second image, I am Nick, looks like one of those stock photos used in advertising of a couple in bed with their child. All white sheets and Photoshop cleanliness.

Lucky Strike portrait of the Strike family - all by Belinda Mason.

Except, in this case, the male figure isn't your traditional hunk, but someone who recognisably has Down's Syndrome. The child, nestled in the centre of the bed, looks directly and provocatively at the camera and us with large dark eyes.

This baby, which we read as a product of the union of the man and woman, almost says "what you looking at?" "Got a problem with this?" It's a powerful image.

Two other photos stand out in this regard, both showing couples with disabilities and their children. The Wild One has Katie Ball and her family all naked together in the backyard under an old washing line.

Lucky Strike is a more conventional family portrait of the Strike family on the couch together, with family photos on a table behind them. It's a beautiful and, yes, heart-warming photo of family love. You're tempted to believe that's what life's all about.

Today is that last day to see the exhibition at the Shutter Room. But all of the photos from Intimate Encounters can be viewed on Belinda Mason's website or at the Tiaho Trust in Whangarei, which owns the collection.