Kickstarter: american ecstasy

Just want to throw a plug out there for a Kickstarter project we’ve donated to because it’s something that we, as classic porn fans, are pretty excited about.

Barbara Nitke was a stills photographer on porn sets in NYC back in the 1980s.  Now, thirty years on, she’s compiling some of her photos into a book. She needs to self-publish because the big publishers don’t want to touch a book that can only be bought by people over 18.  So, she’s using Kickstarter to fund the project.

She describes her book as:

American Ecstasy is my memoir of those roller coaster days.  I shot the pictures in this book while working as a stills person on 300 hardcore porn shoots in New York over the course of twelve years.  My images reveal the contradictions inherent in the business — great beauty, tinged with sadness, punctuated by surreal silliness.  I loved ironic moments when, in the middle of an orgy, they’d have to cut to put more film in the camera.  Everybody would yawn and look at their watch, hoping against hope there would be something decent for lunch.

As of now, she’s 2/3s of the way there, but she needs the last $8,000 to reach her goal and get the thing published, and I for one can’t wait to see the book.

Porn producer and performer Rick Savage send an email around in support of the project which said of the photos: “This set of photos gives you a beautiful and profound look at the people who worked in that world.  I absolutely cannot say enough about these photos and how easily and magically they touched me.

You can see a sample of her work here: http://barbaranitke.com/americanecstacy.html and in the Kickstarter video over at the American Ecstasy page.  (My favorite is of Henri Pachard, on the set of Passion Chain (1987), giving direction to Nina Hartley as she’s sitting on Damien Cashmere‘s face. Priceless.)

You can donate as little as a dollar and from there, the only limit to your generosity is your own.  You get rewards depending on how much you can donate to the project and for a minimum of $50, you’ll get a copy of the book.  Under $50 and you’ll get a small print of one of the photos; over $50 and you’ll get the book plus some other swag.

She’s also got a Facebook Event page set up for the project and those interested in finding out more about it…