Friday, April 22, 2016

Porn-Star Picture Book: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders on the Adult Film Actors in XXX

(Published in the Newark Star-Ledger in September 2004)

XXX: 30 Porn-Star Portraits by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders (Bullfinch, $35)

With porn star Jenna Jameson’s memoir tearing up the bestseller lists and adult film actors packing the Howard Stern Show, the American porn industry has reached new heights in mainstream culture.

Now porn has achieved more legitimacy with its own high-end photography book, with famed portrait  photographer and filmmaker Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’ having just published “XXX: 30 Porn-Star Portraits.” Greenfield-Sanders, known for shooting Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, Lou Reed and Madeline Albright, has photographed adult stars like Jameson, Nina Hartley and Peter North, both clothed and in full-frontal nudity. The poses range from heroic to proud, confrontational to tired. The photos are backed by controversial and witty essays by Gore Vidal, Salman Rushdie and performance artist Karen Finley, and other writers. Greenfield-Sanders’ “XXX” project explodes this month with a Chelsea gallery show of the photos,  an HBO documentary he directed called “Thinking XXX,” a CD of music from the film, and a DVD.

Greenfield-Sanders, 52, spoke with freelance writer Dylan Foley on the line between art and pornography.

Q. How did you get interested in shooting porn stars?

A. It all started with “Boogie Nights” in 1997. Porn stars struck me as a group that would be fascinating to photograph. I did nothing about it until 1999. A friend called and said, “I met a porn star. Can I bring him over?” I’d rather not say who he was. He didn’t end up in the book. He posed for me clothed, then said, “Okay, let’s do the nude one.” I was really taken aback. I said “Gee, sure, let us do the same pose.” In my mind I was thinking of the famous Goya paintings (of the same woman naked and clothed). The pictures were amazing. They were revealing on so many levels, because of the nudity and the way you looked at someone clothed, how the body posture changed and how comfortable he was nude.

Q. How did “XXX” turn into a book with essays?

A. I didn’t pick up the project again until (“Deep Throat” star) Linda Lovelace died in 2002. That spurred me on. I’d ask writer friends about it, and they’d say “I’ll write something for it!” John Malkovich, who is a friend of mine, said he’d write something. Then Gore Vidal came on board, which helped bring the level up to get other great people.

Q. Did you know much about porn when you started?

A. No. At the beginning, I knew who Nina Hartley was, and maybe Tera Patrick. That was about it, but one name leads to another. I was trying to balance it ethnically, as well as young and old stars, for that was more interesting. You could do a book with 100 blondes with big breasts. That would probably be a bigger seller. But that’s a different book.

Q. In your photos, Nina Hartley looks very proud, Reina Leone looks confrontational, and Peter North looks tired. What were you looking for?

A. I am always looking to make the person look how he or she sees him or herself. I hope I achieved this. You also try to get a sense of who the person is. When you meet a porn star, there is a certain proudness there. Reina Leone might have been posed the way she is because she was holding up her gigantic breasts. I’d shoot the clothed photo as they were when they came off the street, without make up. Jesse Jane literally looks like the girl next door. The nude shots were more glamorized.

You get the best picture by putting people at ease. For me, it was difficult at first, because they were naked and I wasn’t used to that. As a photographer, you have to get over it.  I had to learn the language like, “You look fabulous” and “Your breasts are great.”

Q. What is the difference between shooting Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison and porn star Jenna Jameson?

It is very different. The people in this project are very comfortable with the camera. That is not the case with writers. It was harder to do Donna Tartt, Madeline Albright and Jack Welch.

Q. With nude photography, what is the line between art and pornography?

A. There is an old joke with two punchlines...What is the difference between art and pornography? Focus and lighting. I don’t really have an answer. What I do is art. These are portraits of clothed and nude people. So much about porn is objectifying the performers.
This book humanizes these people.

Q.  How does “XXX” fit in your career path?

A. It is still all about portraiture. My first book “Art World” was about all the people I’d shot during 20 years in the New York art world. It was artists, critics and collectors. The next book was a monograph on celebrities, politicians, actors and writers. If you look at the work, who are the people I photograph? They are very accomplished, driven people, and many of them are celebrities. Porn stars fit right into that. They are the best at what they do, which is screwing on film.  And they are fascinating. I came to this with very cliched conceptions about who porn stars were. I came out of it with a very different understanding. Many of them are very smart and use porn in different ways to make something of themselves.


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