Artsy Photographer Takes Portraits of P6rn Stars, Savage Wappa Ensues

September 18, 2004 9:24 AM

XXX: 30 P9RN STAR PORTRAITS (a bit NSFW, obviously) by photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, is a book that features paired portraits (one clothed and one nude) of the top stars in p6rn, straight and gay, from legends like (best-selling memoirist) Jenna Jameson, Ron Jeremy and Nina Hartley to (ahem) rising stars like Sunrise Adams, Belladonna, Chad Hunt. The book includes short essays on the intersection of p6rnography and culture by a wide range of writers, from Salman Rushdie to AM Homes. XXX is, essentially, about the much-dreaded "p6rnification" of the culture at large, recently featured in the New York Times. As Gore Vidal writes in the book's introduction, “Doubtless, sex tales were told about the Neanderthal campfire and perhaps instructive positions drawn on cave walls. Meanwhile, the human race was busy establishing such exciting institutions as slavery and its first cousin, marriage.” (more inside, with totally NSFW Terry Richardson)
posted by matteo (12 comments total)

Another -- much grittier -- book about the world of porn is now available: Stefano De Luigi's merciless Pornoland.
For an entirely different perspective on porn, here's fashion photographer Terry Richardson's homemade images. Which include a (hardcore images, beware) naughty look behind-the-scenes look at what really happens in the Batcave between Batman and Robin. (not a direct link to the -- again, hardcore -- images, just open the Batman folder, NSFW unless you work for Larry Flynt)
posted by matteo at 9:25 AM on September 18, 2004

btw, Richardson can be political, too, as this visual commentary on brand obsession demonstrates.
;)
posted by matteo at 9:30 AM on September 18, 2004

I'd be very interested to pick up that book. The handfull (ahem, so to speak... none of them were the least bit arousing) of the pictures on the site were fascinating. Some were slightly Diane Arbus-like, in that they managed to show stress, fatigue and more than an under-current of sadness in the subjects. It looks like some pretty good and thought-provoking work.

I don't think I'll ever understand the current mainstreamization of pr0n. From Girls Gone Wild to RealWorld episodes that practically have amateur sex-film quality to them, it's gone too far. I say this not out of prudishness, but from a different direction: it has turned something that was kind of fun and naughty (if done right... a lot of old school pr0n is as degrading as anything you'll see today), to something just base and oppressively boring.
posted by psmealey at 9:55 AM on September 18, 2004

Previously mentioned here, in the context of Rushdie's introduction to the book.
posted by Wulfgar! at 10:19 AM on September 18, 2004

No Rocco? tsk, tsk.
posted by tcobretti at 10:24 AM on September 18, 2004

psmealey, its a pendulum, we sway back and forth between being utter sluts and being uptight prudes, right now we, as a culture, seem to be stuck on slut mode. Not that its a bad thing necessarily but it'll swing back eventually.

One good thing is that kids like to think they're original and the next generation may look at this current slutterly attitude and reject it for more Victorian mores.

And agreed that the pics were not in the least bit arousing, the Nina Hartley pics reminded me of a motorcycle that had been ridden hard and put away wet many, many, many times. Kind of sad actually.
posted by fenriq at 11:23 AM on September 18, 2004

"Motorcycle ridden hard and put away wet..."

Hmm.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 11:58 AM on September 18, 2004

I always hate these for one simple reason - the model's move between pictures. Assuming your models aren't wearing designer labels, it wouldn't cost all that much more to remove their clothes without them moving - get some scissors and the job is done.

Maybe that's just me though...

I was interested to see that Ron Jeremy was apparently happy dressed, and tense when naked. And dear god he's an ugly bastard...
posted by twine42 at 12:56 PM on September 18, 2004

Arse. "models", not "model's". *sigh*
posted by twine42 at 12:56 PM on September 18, 2004

Doesn't the analogy more commonly refer to a horse put away wet?
posted by erebora at 1:35 PM on September 18, 2004

Forget the put-away-wet stuff, the Nina Hartley question is: Who on earth wants to see her from the front?
posted by soyjoy at 10:44 PM on September 18, 2004

*googles*

Nina Hartley from the Back

yeah, that ain't work safe. duh.
posted by bargle at 8:48 AM on September 19, 2004