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Michael
Grecco's gigantically oversized tome represents the culmination
of a five-year journey to document the bodies, chaos, and
richness of character at the Adult Video News Awards Show,
held annually in Las Vegas and charmingly referred to as the
"porn Oscars." Naked Ambition is a pop culture art
book that the author doesn't want relegated to a low bookshelf
in the photography section.
Grecco,
whose background is in both photojournalism and portraiture,
normally works with the corporate machine of celebrity culture.
In this book, he relishes photographing unguarded subjects
who appear un-retouched in the well-composed, oversized images.
The photographer's lens gazes directly into the eyes of his
models, capturing them as complex artists, not sleaze robots.
Grecco's subjects are fully clothed and posed in a decidedly
non-provocative manner. The outfits are outrageous and the
make-up is thick, but Grecco never allows his subjects to
titillate the camera. He captures joyous laughter, moments
of pensive thought, and direct, unflinching stares from the
myriad of artists with whom he worked.
The author
assigned snarky titles to each model to reflect his or her
niche in the industry. Grecco's first portraiture subject
is Larry Flynt, contributor of one of the book's two introductions.
After a regal portrait of the publishing magnate in his wheelchair,
the reader meets the biggest star of the modern era, Jenna
Jameson ("The Queen"), photographed with a male assistant
attending to her magenta floor-length ball gown. Highly paid
stars Ron Jeremy ("The Jester"), Brittney Skye ("The Independent"),
Jessica Drake ("The Hostess"), and Peter North ("The Fountain")
make appearances early in the book.
Although
the book opens with some of the biggest household names, the
subjects of Naked Ambition are not limited to mainstream
contract video stars. Grecco raises the stakes by featuring
alternative stars like Joanna Angel, who produced a zombie
movie homage called Repenetrator; six-foot-five runway
model Alexis Skye, who is paid to hawk products in skintight
latex and heels which raise her height to seven feet; and
handicapped on- and off-screen couple Diablo and Kitten. Brash
freelance artist Michelle Aston is photographed twice in artistic
nudes which display her full-body tattoo art and shaved head.
Over half a dozen transsexual performers are featured, including
drag queen/filmmaker Chi Chi LaRue, who was an early activist
for condom use in adult films and appears both in drag and
au naturel in Grecco's portrait spread.
More
than just a photography book, Naked Ambition is chock-full
of insider info, biographical information, and quotes from
performers from all walks of life. While Grecco was on a mission
to gather the most dizzying array of Fellini-esque pageantry,
editors Lonn Friend and Rob Hill were tasked with exploring
the subjects as artists. The reader gets to meet a trio of
Christian evangelist adult performers, a sister-sister team,
and even two performers filmed with their mothers by their
sides, all of whom discuss their backgrounds at length. Of
course, the reader is also invited to gawk at the lushly photographed
tools of the trade, from fake eyelashes to footwear worthy
of design awards and Lucite objets d'art.
Michael
Grecco has produced a stunningly intimate yet never explicit
portrait of the world's most outrageous industry. By taking
the focus off pornography and sex, he has forced performers
to stop performing for a moment, to let their humanity be
captured on film.
(March,
2008)
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