Book Review--XXX 30 Porn Star Portraits by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

XXX: 30 Porn-star Portraits by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
published by Bulfinch Press

This isn't the sort of coffeetable book you actually put on a coffeetable. At least, not the sort of coffeetables where anyone under the age of eighteen might happen by.

Mr. Greenfield-Sanders is famous for his celebrity portraits, usually taken with an enormous antique box-camera. This book features, as the title suggests, portraits of porn-stars of various vintages, in a unique format. Inspired by Goya's paintings, "Maja, Clothed and Nude," Mr. Greenfield-Sanders features two photos of each pornstar, one fully clothed, and the second of the pornstar in the same pose, only in the nude.

The effect is striking. I can't speak for the exact point at which Mr. Greenfield-Sanders was driving, but what moves me is the fact that the person or persons in the left-page photo (clothed) might be someone you see on the street or in the convenience store, and then the photo on the right page (nude) is clearly someone who has no reservations about being nude in front of other people. In fact, in some of the photos, (e.g. Brianna Banks, Belladonna, Sean Michaels) appear more comfortable in front of the camera with their clothes off than on.

That, I think is what makes this book interesting. It's not that these people are comfortable being viewed in the nude, it's that they're confortable being viewed DOING things in the nude, things most of us couldn't do with the lights off in the bedroom with the family dog present.

One of the side-effects of the porn pundit game is that in a way, the topic is wide-open; it's difficult to start a discussion group about the elements of porn punditry, erotica, and/or the politics of sex because it's just not discussed in "polite society." You don't get much opportunity to have critical discussions. Was "Asian Sluts And Black Cocks IV" a good example of gonzo-form cinematography or not?

Mr. Greenfield-Sanders' book is a good way to start a dialogue. The photos themselves are very well-done, even artistic in every sense of the word. The subjects are interesting, not just for the photos, but for the ease with which they're showing it all off.

And then there are the essays. Mr. Greenfield-Sanders has invited essays on the subject of porn from commenters as varied as Gore Vidal, Witley Striber, Salman Rushdie, and John Waters. We finally get the chance to have a sample of the sort of intellectual, artistic discussion of porn that some of us dream of, if not for the fact that most people still avert their eyes and turn three shades of red when someone even mentions the name "Jenna Jameson."

Great book, great photos, great essays, I highly recommend this one.

Just don't actually put it on your coffeetable.