Exotic Dancers

In April of 2015, I began the most challenging artistic endeavour I have ever worked on: creating a photo series of 69 exotic dancers from Portland, Oregon, and using the pictures for a set of collector cards.

At that point I had been working as a semi-professional photographer for about 20 years, mostly in journalistic, commercial and band photography. I had done very few shoots with models but recently, following the suggestion of several strippers who had seen my work, I had begun photographing dancers. At the same time I received an invitation to be a part of an erotic art show. Given my varied experience, I wanted to see what I could come up with.

Initially contemplating the project that became ‘Stripping Out Loud’, I knew I wanted it to be different. I started coming up with shot concepts and decided that I wanted to follow a theme of empowerment. Over the following couple of years I started talking to dancers about being in the project and began building it up, one shoot at a time. What had started as somewhat of a novelty project, evolved into a positive statement about people in the sexual professions.

The project represents the wide spectrum of exotic dancers in Portland, showcasing all body types, female, male and transgender. From its inception I had several industry professionals and activists advising me. I wanted Stripping Out Loud to convey a respectful tone about strippers. The sexual professions are seen by society as being seedy and unscrupulous, and I want to stand up and say that it doesn't have to be that way.

Since I was eighteen strippers have been part of my circle of friends at various points in my life. I see dancers and all those in the sexual professions, the same as I would see anyone else. I judge people based on content of character. If they have chosen to work in the sex industry that’s their choice and it is not anyone else's right to tell them that it is wrong. For me, ‘consenting adults’ is the bottom line on this subject.

When I first began working on this project I was reluctant to tell people what I was doing but I began to let people know about it when I couldn’t hide my excitement any longer. I explained to them why I was doing it and why I felt it was important. As it turns out my friends and family have been very supportive on this journey and I have received a great deal of support from the dancer community in Portland.

There is a huge amount of vulnerability and trust that exists when photographing a model, especially a man photographing a female model. To help them feel comfortable and safe I always invite them to bring along whoever they would like to the shoot. All the dancers in this project get paid a fair modelling fee and have usage rights to their images. I consider myself an honourable person, and I want to bring that to everything that I do and I take the amount of trust I have been given very seriously. If you are in a position where someone is putting that kind of trust in you, and you breach that trust, you do not deserve to be photographing models, let alone making a living at it.

I want to see legislation change around the sexual professions, and for those who choose to work in the industry to be given a voice. I’m very aware that, as a non-sex worker, it is not my place to speak for them. My aim is to help turn up the volume on their microphone so that their message can be heard. In any legislation regarding sexual work, the actual workers absolutely need to be at the table and have a voice.

Laws changing will only do so much. For actual positive change to take place, people's minds have to change. There needs to be a much larger, national conversation about sex work and emphasis put on the vast difference between chosen work in the sexual professions, and trafficking.

Doing a project that involves controversial themes and this many models has been extremely challenging, and also very rewarding. I believe in this project, I believe in the dancers, and I believe that the sexual professions are an important part of our society. I want Stripping Out Loud to be seen as a positive statement and also as something fun. My hope is that this can contribute to a larger discussion, and help people stop seeing those who choose to work in the sexual professions as second class citizens or victims.

Main photo of Katara. All photography by Jason Savage.