Pornstar

by Ian Gittler

"Pornstar" is a mesmerizing, definitive examination of life at the epicenter of Americas multibillion-dollar sex entertainment industry. When Ian Gittler began photographing porn stars, his intent -- however suspect -- was to glamorize and legitimize their lives and work in the same way top photographers generally portray the porn stars' mainstream Hollywood counterparts. Girder envisioned a celebrity coffee-table book with gorgeous. enticing photography that would provoke a reevaluation of fame in our culture.

But as the author journeyed into the surprisingly accessible "underground" world of porn, his glossy, conceptual approach gave way to one of grim resolve. Gittler couldn't ignore the rapidly accumulating evidence of abuse and emotional disconnect. By the time Savannah -- the most famous XXX film star of her generation -- committed suicide, he felt compelled to address the heartbreak and fragile humanity he was learning firsthand are at tile core of this subculture.

Gittler forged relationships with his subjects that irrevocably changed him, and discovered that the world of porn is not only a product of mainstream society, but a parallel universe where all the challenges of emotional intimacy facing humans at tile end of the twentieth century exist.

"Pornstar" is all extraordinary marriage of memoir, photography, and investigative journalism; its narrative -- in running text and more than one hundred stunning photographs -- spans more than five years. "Pornstar" is violent, funny, tragic, and uncompromising: a totally unprecedented portrait of tile men and women -- "the stars" -- who populate the terrain of America's porn industry.

Genres: Photography, Nonfiction, Film

176 pages, ebook

First published October 18, 1999

Reviews

[Damon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've really wanted to read this for ten years now, and am so glad I finally did. It's such an amazingly delicate look into the lives and minds of a very insular fringe of society. Features a great introduction by Bret Easton Ellis.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am not sure how I got it, but I received a copy of this book back around 1999 when it first came out and I remembered how dated it seemed even then. I guess in part because Savannah (the girl on the cover, and who Gittler humblebrags about having sex with) had shot herself 5 years prior to the publishing of the book, and all the other photos are from around 1991-1994. Since this was before digital photography, the photos are more raw, and haven't been manipulated. You see things like pockmarked faces under thick makeup and the "chewed up" (his words) look of the scarred nipples from bad boobjobs. It's really depressing to flip through, and moreso when you read his description of their appearance, their apartments, how worn out and tired they seem, and things like how after a raunchy stripclub stage show, there were "literally two $1 bills" crumpled up next to the woman.

At least two of the people in the book became HIV+ not long publication, including Marc Wallice, who knew he was infected, but hid his status and subsequently infected several women. Another 2-3 committed suicide (not including Savannah) and the rest were already nearing the end of their careers. It's sad, but in a pathetic way, not in a cautionary tale way. Gittler came off as two-faced. He seems to know, or at least suspect how damaged and lonely they are, and writes demeaning things about them, but also wants to fuck them and photograph them, for free, and once he has no more use for the people he photographed, he tossed them away. It's just a lousy book in every regard.

[Kevin Costain · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a wild, debaucherous, 1990s ride through an industry so often shrouded in hate or taboo. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but mostly fluff. What you have here is a person interviewing these people (pornstars) as people. Glitter even seems to get to know some of them well. A fascinating record of history.

[Jimmy Uldbjerg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tragic story about the empty lives of porn actors, This goes through the ninetees. I don`t want to know what it`s like these days.

[Thrillers R Us · Rating 4 out of 5]

Able to do just about anything at the height of its success, Season 5 Episode 21 of SEINFELD was definitely not the Opposite. Aside from George Costanza's troubles, said episode also has Kramer nudging into the publishing business by pitching a coffee table book about coffee tables that could transform into a quasi coffee table itself. A swank product, if you can drum up an audience. Capping the 1980s, the (cheap) VHS boom of the 1990s blew the roof off the adult video industry, prompting an inverse version of the eighties celebrity coffee-table book about its major players and performers. In 1999, PORNSTAR set out to be the first cool picture book to come along in years, a glowing love letter to a taboo industry before it exploded with the open distribution system of the internet.

Just as DAWN OF THE DEAD in 1978 promised that when there is no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth, PORNSTAR's author pledged from before inception of this magnum opus coffee table book that since all [his] rock heroes had already been photographed, the natural subject choice for a fledgling commercial photographer was adult film performers. The author's 1990s opinion was that sex on film was very rock and roll, quenching his burning desire for pictorial stardom, fanned by contract work capturing rock bands for magazines. Instead of finding a world of alternate glitz and glamor, the not so revered, yet still glittering other side of Hollywood, PORNSTAR presents a world of bored, emotionally inaccessible porn people. It was a time when actors doing X-rated work were pigeonholed and could not break the mold to move across town onto the fancy silver screen of worldwide fame and stardom. Grudging acceptance of adult films was still far off, an industry pushed into the shadows and grinding through talent, always on the lookout for fresh faces. It seems that everyone was looking to get out but remained stuck by circumstance and big, fast money. PORNSTAR is a book of interview style portraits of porn stars, revealing that they are people like everyone else, irrespective of how they earn their living. A business where promiscuity meant self-destruction, disaffectation, and violence, a far cry from liberation, in turn making a happy tidy book about this sad subculture a MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE.

Besides throwing good money after bad and considering effort already sunk into the project as well as the mighty level of ego, why then make this book? By no means a chronology, history, or biographical account of the adult film industry, PORNSTAR is probably not what most people think it is; and it's not an expose or a journalistic endeavor offering a realistic look at the industry or the plight of its performers and fringe players. PORNSTAR comes off as a naughty scrapbook of someone's youthful trip out west to the California or a nerdist attempt to inveigle and be close to greatness. A star struck youngster who happened to stumble off a Van Nuys sidewalk onto a film set, self admittedly openly straight, and bent on producing a picture book casting the early to mid 90s adult film scene in a positive light. Dismissing the premise that there might be unhealthy pathologies at work in the industry and its players, PORNSTAR is a lightweight affair that reeks of pot and cheap beer and is perfect for those that it tangentially makes fun of--polyester tourists. For those with encyclopedic knowledge of the early VHS years of the adult film industry, PORNSTAR may be an abbreviated WHO'S WHO, a fun exercise of memory and recognition. To the uninitiated, however, the waffling between the author's adoration, indulgence, and frustration with the players will fall short of a serious documentary effort of the workings of the industry or what the lives of the performers really was like. Merely scratching the surface and managing to wear off a bit of the sheen, PORNSTAR could've been a contender. Instead it's a slick promo sheet summary with pictures that manages to fumble the case.

[Marcia Guimaraes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ian Gittler is a photographer who thought porn was a job like any other, like many do, despiste the rumors that people who work in this industry are oftentimes victims of abuse (prior, during and after it). It was interesting to read it and follow his change of thought as he not only photographed but talked and befriended many of the porn “stars”. There’s a mini biography for some of them and the reader realizes it has never been easy for these people. Pretty much all of them came from a past of abuse and followed a self destructive path. I had to put this book away sometimes, because it was just very sad to read the stories. Even so, I wish he could have gone deeper into theirs lives, but I understand it was a short period of time they had together (the shooting) and some were not willing to share (some didn’t even realized that what they were sharing was pure abuse).

[Ellison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author aspires to spend time with adult stars FOR FREE, so, he coms up with the idea to write a coffee table book. He spends a DECADE off and on interviewing performers and snatching pix when he can, appears to not be a happy life, the copy I viewed had missing pages, previous viewers felt that the images were worth keeping for private collection? Swearing.

[Carlos · Rating 3 out of 5]

En "Pornstar" Gittler narra su travesía en el mundo de la producción de cine para adultos.
Su objetivo inicial era retratar la vida de los personajes de esta industria y mostrar al público en general que estas personas no son tan diferentes de las estrellas de cine o los 'rockstars', llevando vidas llenas de glamour.
Sin embargo, el contacto con productores, directores, actrices y actores y un terrible suceso relacionado con una de las más reconocidas actrices cambia el enfoque de Gittler lo que le permitirá darse cuenta que él no es un extraño a las obsesiones y motivaciones de los personajes que documenta así como de los ejes que coadyuvan a que un individuo se convierta en un 'pornstar'.