Fuck Fashion Fetish 3
I’ve gotten to a point in life where I’m sick of the fashion-fetish scene. I used to adore it and aspire to be one of the top models in the scene but the more time I spend around those people the more I realize that it’s not for me.
Some people are able to be wildly successful in that area, which rocks and I’m pleased for them. Then there’s the second and third tiers of people who are either striving to have notoriety (mostly models, occasionally designers or photographers) or dying to work with the people who have notoriety. And it’s just a big TFP circle jerk of namedropping, ego-fucking, and catty drama. I still love making pretty pictures with the people in that scene, I just hate being around a crowd of people at a shoot whose main discussion points are who they’re shooting with (likely for free and nobody is actually earning anything but pretty profile pics).
I guess it’s similar in porn; we gather in the green room or while doing make up and talk about who we’re working with lately. The interactions I see in porn are for the sake of networking while the interactions I see in fashion are for the sake of bragging and increasing one’s reputation in the industry.
“PornstarXXX worked with Director YYY and I’ve worked with Director ZZZ. If PornstarXXX and I trade contacts, I can work with Director YYY and she can work with Director ZZZ. We both get more paid gigs; plus, I know that if PornstarXXX works with companies I work with, she’ll bring her fans to those companies which helps me and everyone else in the long run.”
In fashion, the general vibe of the discussion is “I worked with Photographer XXX and you don’t so there. Or maybe you did, but I know the person’s real name, date of birth, and who they’re fucking, which means I’m closer to the cool people than you are.”
This isn’t to say that there’s no possibility of constructive mutually-respectful networking in the fashion or fetish-fashion industry. It’s just not as likely to happen within every tier of popularity like it does in porn. I don’t have to be a multi-AVN award winner for people to respect me as a professional.
Don’t get me wrong; I still love making pretty pictures and working with the great, creative, hard-working people in the fashion and fetish-fashion industries. But at the end of the day, I’m proud to be a pornstar. I love baring it all and not having to give a fuck about who I know or what big names I shoot with. For me, success comes from pleasing my fans, not impressing my contemporaries.
Thank God For Porn.
On that note, this week’s photo set is called Kill Your Fashion, part of a series that the fantastic Brett Michael Nelson is shooting. It was incredibly liberating to shoot, partly because there is little that is more exciting than mindless destruction, and partly because we shot this right when I was first coming to the realization that I don’t like shooting with fashion people as much anymore.
Aug 16, 2010 @ 19:42:53
It seems like porny people have more of a “we need to look out for each other” vibe.
Aug 17, 2010 @ 16:59:00
Ahhh, my dearest. You keep living life while others live lies
Sep 04, 2010 @ 14:57:55
The jazz end of the music business is like that. And I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of businesses where nobody makes any money are like that too.
The problem is exactly as you said: nobody is getting paid in cash money, so what they’re getting paid in, is bragging rights. Silly, but if there’s no money, then bragging rights is all you got, that’s what you go for.