Interview with Naomi Harris

Photographer Naomi Harris has shot Bill Maher, as well as Ronda at the Rascal house. Her diverse body of work features banal moments of celebrity status--Bill making a mess with his saltines-- and glorious moments from the everyday--Ronda majestically looking for diner food. From the ridiculous to the sublime, the awkward humor of Naomi's subjects pops in Technicolor. Taschen recently released Harris' American Swings, a record of the subculture of sexuality and erotica across America. Instead of the stereotypical vision of perky playboys and American beauty queens, her subjects are the people who reshelve your library books or fix your clogged drains. These are not the idealistic notions we have of the 'sexy swinger', but references to Harris' ability to make the seemingly banal utterly sublime.

Harris was the very first artist that Slideluck Potshow solicited to be part of the event. At SLPS III, which took place at MATCH Artspace in 2005, Harris displayed a portion of this work for the crowd... Three years later wine will once again be served with her work during the Book Launch Reception at Phillips de Pury & Company on Tuesday October 14th from 6–8pm. The highlights exhibition from the publication will simultaneously hang at Phillips de Pury & Company from the 8th to the 15th of October. As well, she will be having a reception for her exhibition at M + B in Los Angeles on Saturday, October 25th, from 7-9pm and a book-signing at the Beverly Hills Taschen store on Thursday, October 30th, from 7-9pm.

I briefly talked to Harris about the Swingers project and her work in general, for Slideluck Potshow.....

Your work is often reminiscent in color and composition to family portraits from an antiquated era... do you try to evoke that funny discomfort in your work?

I wouldn't say the colors are old-school in the sense that I like punchy and poppy colours, not muted ones. I love to shoot outdoors on obnoxiously sunny days so I can make the skies even more saturated and a deeper blue. Sort of Technicolor.

But the poses are certainly influenced by early portrait photography. I'm a huge fan of Disfarmer and August Sanders and Seydou Keita. It's interesting that all of these photographers lived in opposite ends of the earth during a time when they wouldn't have seen each others work and therefore wouldn't be influenced by each other. I think the need to create proud imagery that portrays the subject in a strong respectful manner is the common thread.

I think the humor in my pictures come more from the individuals themselves rather than the poses.

You play with age and beauty in a visceral way. The images are cringe-worthy but leave you with a smirk. Do you search for subjects that challenge stereotypes?

I don't really have a strong intent to illustrate something in a particular way when I go shoot, I guess it's more of a fluke. I shoot what I'm attracted to and often that would be the ridiculous or the sublime. I also think it might be that I feel more comfortable with things out of my element than "normal" situations. I'm way more at ease with a bunch of swingers from the suburbs of Texas than hipster kids in an "it" spot in Williamsburg.

I hate people my age or teenagers, I definitely feel like an 80 year old trapped in a 35-year olds body. I relate way more to The Golden Girls than Gossip Girl for crying out loud.

For swingers, I used to go to a clothing optional beach when I lived in Miami and it just so happened that many of my fellow beach goers happened to be swingers. I was invited by a friend of mine to go to a club since he needed a female-- single males are not allowed to attend swing clubs alone. He knew I was a photographer and thought I'd find it interesting from an artistic point of view. He was right. There were no strings attached and no expectations. The whole scenario was so weird-- to see suburban mums and dads all dressed sexy, chowing down on a buffet and then retiring to a back room to engage in group sex. It was unbelievable. And that no one had really shot it yet made it that much more desirable.

Did your subjects flirt with you during shooting?

Of course there was a flirtation. They loved teasing me "put down your camera and have some fun" but all in all they were respectful of my boundaries. After all, "no means no" in the swinging community.

Did you originally start the project knowing that it was eventually going to become a book? And if so, what was the intent of the book?

It was my intention right from the beginning to make a book and have gallery shows. I wanted to show this little-documented sub sect of America. My goal was to combine documentary-style work with portraiture to show what goes on at these events, as well as to give a face as to what a swinger is in America. By using interviews of the swingers themselves I hoped to let them tell their story in their own voice and thus making the book as unbiased as I possibly could. And I was upfront with everyone I photographed that this was what I planned to do. It was hard to say it with conviction when it was the first few shoots, but once I actually had my contract with Taschen that made it a little easier.

What would have you done differently during the project?

I'd like to believe that I would do it all the same. I might have tried to include more parties because there is certainly no shortage of those, but I'm darn proud of what I produced in these 5 years and wouldn't change a thing.

Who do you wish you had met? Who did you meet that made you thankful for the encounter?

I would have liked to have illustrated the younger crowd a little more. They exist, but are much more hesitant in being exposed, which is totally understandable. If the shoe was on the other foot, would I want my friends and family to see me in a coffee table book? Certainly not. But I still do wish some people would have been more open. I think it's important that people who aren't in the lifestyle know that swingers aren't just a group of middle aged people from the Midwest, but that this exists everywhere and with a variety of age and backgrounds. I would have liked to have shot more ethnic parties as well. Most of the people in the book are white. I've heard of Latino and Asian groups, but had a hard time finding those on the internet.

The second part of your question is tough. I had a lot of encounters with many, many people and so many of them were so open with me, telling me their story, letting me photograph them, letting me stay in their homes. All of the club owners that allowed me to photograph at their parties took a huge risk as they are constantly facing the risk of being shut down by the authorities. While this isn't an illegal act, it is not an acceptable behavior to most of society, and people risk their livelihoods and families to partake. So, to those who were open enough to let me be there, I am indeed grateful.

Of course certain people stand out because they helped introduce me to other clubs, or they were protective of me at the party, or they were just such characters but it would be too hard for me to begin explaining. Some things you just had to be there for.

If you would like to join TASCHEN and Phillips de Pury to launch Naomi Harris America Swings exhibition and book launch on 14th October from 6 – 8 pm, please RSVP to c.carr@taschen.com