Introduction Camera-equipped smartphones and other devices allow people to capture and share images directly with others in ways that are spontaneous, instant and relatively inexpensive. Such sharing is a common part of modern sexual intimacies, despite media and educational discourses warning of potential risks.

Methods This paper reports on a qualitative study in which we interviewed 23 Australian adults about the ways in which they used with digital sexual imagery in their sex lives. The study aimed to explore participants’ experiences of digital sexual self-image creation and sharing and the ways discourses of risk and safety shape these experiences.

Results Findings showed that participants tended to view the creation and exchange of sexual images as a form of sexual play that built intimacy, sexual tension and eroticism into their relationships and expanded their sexual and relationship experiences in positive ways. Participants were aware that sending sexual or nude images left them vulnerable to pot