Naked (and clothed) came the porn stars

A noted photographer takes before and after pictures of Jenna Jameson and other XXX performers.

By Pete L'Official

Nov 9, 2004 | Timothy Greenfield-Sanders made his name photographing luminously iconic portraits of the artistically and intellectually accomplished. Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Orson Welles, Toni Morrison, Sidney Poitier and Hillary Clinton have all appeared before his camera. His photographs manage not merely to capture but also to powerfully radiate with the intensity of his featured subjects -- their personalities pour forth from the frames.

Greenfield-Sanders has now re-focused his lens on a whole new crowd: porn stars. His latest book, "XXX: 30 Porn-Star Portraits," released last month by Bulfinch Press, features 30 startling diptychs of some of porn's most famous performers, gay and straight, shown in their day clothes and their birthday suits. (The photos are also on display through Dec. 18 at the Mary Boone Gallery in New York.) Jenna Jameson, Ron Jeremy, Tera Patrick and Gina Lynn are among those who strike twinned poses for the photographer, in some cases revealing far more confidence in the buff than in their blue jeans. The book also features 15 essays, both erudite and eccentric, about pornography and culture from a remarkable group of writers, thinkers and performers, including Gore Vidal, Francine du Plessix Gray, John Malkovich, Nancy Friday and John Waters.

Porn stars were a radical change of pace in many ways for the photographer, who'd never photographed nudes before. But with the subject of porn becoming increasingly visible in popular culture -- Jenna Jameson's well-received autobiography being one recent example -- it became not only impossible to ignore, but also fascinating enough for the photographer to study. Though pornography has long existed in various forms, it may take the bright key lights of the mainstream -- or of a prominent photographer for that matter -- for us to honestly look at those who produce it. As Sunrise Adams, one of the porn stars who posed for Greenfield-Sanders, says in "Thinking XXX," a documentary about the making of the book that recently aired on HBO and is set to return to regular rotation soon: "Everybody's fucking somebody to get somewhere in life. We're just doing it on film."

Salon recently spoke to Greenfield-Sanders by phone:

What made you decide to put together this book?

Years ago, I saw "Boogie Nights" and was struck by how interesting porn stars were, and thought they'd be challenging for a portrait series. I never thought of shooting them nude. And it developed over the years, the idea. Eventually I met a porn star, and I did portraits of him. He asked to pose nude at the end of the shoot, and I was shocked and didn't know what to do or how to shoot it. So I used the same pose as the clothed one. The next day when I saw the pictures, they were so striking that I realized that this was a great way to shoot them because they were equally interesting both as people and as nude studies. I only imagined them for a gallery show at first. I never thought of it as a book. But as I met more porn stars I realized how interesting, how diverse and how exceptional they were. I thought a book might be cool too.

Next Page: "These porn stars can be nude and confident"

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