The July/August issue of American Photo magazine includes a porn-related story. I don’t usually find porn stories in this magazine—and I read most of its 6 yearly issues—so I was kind of surprised when, thumbing through the pages, I came upon a pic of Mister Marcus standing, naked, in the doorway of some non-descript shooting house.

That certainly got my attention!

I backed up a page or two to find the beginning of the story. That’s when I found a photo of my good friend, the beautiful Rebecca Lord, in her back yard with her boxers. No, I didn’t say “in her boxers.” I said “with her boxers,” i.e, her dogs.

The article, written by Jeffrey Elbies, is this issue's “Inside Photography” feature. Elbies' porn story is titled: “In Focus: Larry Sultan Photographs Home Sweet American Home—In Which Porn Films Happen to be Shot.”

Here’s how the article begins: “California’s San Fernando Valley is for fine-art photographer Larry Sultan what Victorian London was for Charles Dickens or 1940s Los Angeles was for Raymond Chandler: a real place whose psychic dimensions give an uneasy form to life.”

I guess that’s a literary way of saying that gifted artist Larry Sultan (after all, Larry’s being subtly compared to Dickens and Chandler) was slumming when he took all these porn pics at porn sets for his coffee table book, “Larry Sultan: The Valley.” The article also notes that Larry’s porn location photo-art will be on display at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art through August 1.

Hmmm… this is the second time this week I’ve posted something about porn qualifying as art.

Personally, I kind of took exception to Mr. Elbies’ opening, ostentatious words, so let me get this off my chest: Fuck you, Jeffrey!

Okay, I feel better.

Anyway, the piece talks about Sultan’s five-years of photographing porn sets in the Valley. American Photo’s Elbies comments on Sultan’s five-year stint, claiming Sultan’s work will result “…in what is sure to be one of the most talked-about photo projects of the year.”

Do any of you porn people suddenly feel like a backward citizen of a Third World nation that’s been visited by some guy who’s akin to a prestigious National Geographic photographer? I know I do.

In the article, Sultan is quoted as saying, “I was using porn as a decoy, a way of looking at our desires.”

Ya think, Larry? Ya really think porn’s about looking at our desires? Gee! Why didn’t WE think of that? Good thing you came along to show everyone what this shit we do is about.

Here’s some more from the story: “Sultan says that getting the trust of the porn actors was not that difficult.”

I’m sure it wasn’t, Larry. Not for a gifted artist like you dealing with a bunch of dumb-shit porn Carnies like us.

“You use code words to describe what you’re doing,” he (Sultan) says. “I would just say I was shooting ‘behind the scenes.’”

In other words, Larry, you gained everyone’s trust by resorting to lies and deception.

At the end of the article, Sultan tries his best to say something nice about us porn aliens, but in the very end, he takes a last, little stab at what we do.

Sultan says, “There are lots of stereotypes about porn people, and some are true,” he (Sultan) says. “But many don’t bear any resemblance to what I saw. There was lots of goodwill and camaraderie on the sets. The actors and crew talk about retirement plans and child care—what people at work talk about.”

In other words, what we do doesn’t really qualify as work… huh Larry?

Sultan continues: “Then you realize you’re on a porn set, and you realize there is this total sense of dislocation.”

I agree, Lar... It feels like you just woke up from a really weird and whacky dream only to find you’re still in some weird and whacky dream.

(Sigh) I just love it when real people come to the Porn Zoo and then share their experiences and insights with all the rest of the real people out there… It’s so, uhmm… real and insightful.



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