In the 1980s, at the dusk of the “Golden Age of Porn,” New York City photographer Barbara Nitke began a journey that would be as unpredictable as it would be revealing decades later. Nitke’s new photo memoir American Ecstasy (Pierrot, 2012) is a challenging, profound and daring accomplishment. In a series of explicit photos, essays and interviews, she brings depth and artistic perspective to what some still feel is a repugnant industry.

Nitke worked as the still photographer on over 300 New York porn movie sets over the course of a dozen years, during the Boogie Nights era of porn in New York. While her writing reveals an emotional war waging within her as she struggles to come to terms with her own fascination with the porn stars, the images she presents are deeply intimate. Often shot between takes when the actor’s porn star masks were down, they reach far beyond the sex machine image of the industry to reveal the humanness of the actors.

After losing her deal with HarperCollins Publishers in the wake of her editor Judith Regan’s firing, Nitke tried unsuccessfully to find another publisher bold enough to take on the book. Still convinced there was a large audience, she eventually took the project directly to the public. She raised over $30,000 on Kickstarter, the popular crowd sourcing campaign website, to fund publishing through an independent publisher.

In the foreword, art critic Arthur C. Danto describes Nitke as “an artist of singular merit.” Although difficult to categorize, her work invites discussion about the intersection between private and public art spheres, blending formerly taboo content into mainstream culture. American Ecstasy ignores “the line” between pornography and fine art, while praising men and women who chose to showcase their private lives so irrevocably publically.

Barbara Nitke is a New York fine art photographer, and also does photography for mainstream television shows.

Book
Barbara Nitke - American Ecstasy
Pierrot Press; 1ST edition (2012)
Hardcover, 132 pages
ISBN-10: 0615614361
ISBN-13: 978-0615614366
12 x 10.5 inches

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