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ABOUT US Paulie & Pauline are a creative team based in New York City. Their latest project is Off the Set: Porn Stars and Their Partners, a forthcoming book (publishing in April 2010) of photos and essays that explore the intimate, romantic and erotic lives of ten couples in the adult film industry. Anchored in the visual traditions of Mary Ellen Mark and Danny Lyon, the documentary photos in Off the Set explore their subjects from a genuinely intimate perspective. In both their portrait work and their erotic photography, Paulie & Pauline seek out uniquely candid moments in the human experience with a curiosity that is heavily influenced by their backgrounds in journalism and sociology. Mostly, though, their photos reflect their voyeuristic fascination with people and their stories. Photos from Off the Set have been published in print and online, appeared in several group exhibitions, and are in the permanent collections of the Museum of Sex in New York City and the Kinsey Institute for Human Sexuality. ABOUT OFF THE SET {pre-order at amazon.com}The couples photographed for Off the Set include:
INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOKPorn stars don't have sex like the rest of us. Do they? After all, they do it wearing high heels and false eyelashes. They utter phrases like, "fuck that dirty hole!" while balanced on a barstool or suspended from a veritable trusswork of penises. They lick and suck and seldom kiss. At least that's how we see them. And, given the nature of their work, many of us assume that all porn stars must be jaded, emotionally detached individuals who live in a hedonistic blur, void of any real intimate relationships.While the mainstream media feeds the public's desire to connect and identify with celebrity icons in Hollywood, music, and professional sports, when it comes to porn the media nervously averts its gaze. Instead, porn stars are presumptively cast as the sum of their on-screen performances, and the stigma of the porn industry is attached to them. The assumption that all porn stars must come from a background of abuse, neglect, or substance dependence is reinforced. "Why would anyone choose to do that for a living?" cry the talk-show hosts and investigative reporters. "These people need help, intervention, therapy!" When we began photographing couples in the porn industry, we found that to a large extent the opposite was true. Far from being incapable of intimacy, the people we met thrived on the strength of their personal relationships. In spite of what the mainstream media chides as the "dehumanizing" or "degrading" sex in which they engage for a living, we were not confronted with empty, passionless individuals. To be sure, the American sex industry is a large and hazardous machine that has snagged its gears on many who were too young, too naive, or too desperate. But we discovered that the industry is also populated by many deeply committed couples who could easily be described as ordinary people with extraordinary jobs. The idea for this project originated during a photo shoot in New York City with porn legend Adam Glasser (a.k.a. Seymore Butts, the "Tushy Man") and his co-star Mari Possa, whose budding off-screen relationship had been chronicled in the Showtime television series "Family Business." Adam and Mari asked to take a break a couple of hours into the shoot. Jet-lagged and exhausted from their busy promotional tour, they spooned together on the bed in their hotel suite. Instead of dozing off as we expected, they talked softly and caressed each other like two new lovers who were enjoying a moment alone during a rare break in their busy lives. With their nod of approval, we continued shooting. There was nothing staged or performative about the way Adam and Mari reached for each other. No production assistants or makeup artists darted about. We did our best to remain invisible while attempting to capture their intimacy. The chemistry and ease between them was apparent. They smiled. They laughed. They were surprisingly quiet. And they kissed. Just like the rest of us. As we were introduced to more couples in porn, we became increasingly conscious of the freight unfairly heaped on them via the public's perceptions regarding the porn industry. Far from being the mindless automatons cynically portrayed through the loaded questions and shady editing of investigative news programs, the men and women we met were genuine, thoughtful and acutely self-aware. Some of the couples we photographed, like Adam and Mari, were both involved in porn, whether performing or managing aspects of the business. Other couples featured only one partner in the industry, with the other leading a "civilian" life. In either case, everyone we met had a great deal to say about incorporating the realities of their work in porn into their lives. And all of them were particularly cognizant of the striking contrast between the solidity of their partnerships and the marginalizing assumptions routinely aimed at the men and women in porn. Among the individuals whose photos appear on these pages are porn industry veterans and relative newcomers. They are also mothers, fathers, artists, authors, canny businesspeople, a cancer survivor, and a young woman who agreed to be photographed only weeks into her recovery from a nearly fatal traumatic brain injury. Through our photos in this project, we've attempted to open a door to a part of the porn industry that is seldom objectively explored. Away from the sets in Chatsworth and Canoga Park, ten couples allowed us to enter their private lives and photograph them during some of their most intimate moments. We found that their experiences as couples echoed our own. Like us, they mark their passing days and years together with shared love, sacrifice, and aspiration. They struggle, cope, and overcome together. They create. They nurture. They weave their individual threads into the fabric of a commitment. We?re delighted that some of the individuals who appear on these pages also agreed to share their stories in their own words, and we?ve included their voices to help illuminate their experiences. Some, like Adam and Mari, chose to celebrate each other by sharing their love letters. Others, like Lorelei Lee, laid themselves truly bare by telling the story of how one relationship came to its agonizing end. We hope that together, our photos and their words can resonate in a way that alters the tone of the current discussion regarding porn. AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON IN APRIL 2010! Paulie & Pauline |