English
Welcome to Terryworld
by Dian Hanson
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Terry's bad boy reputation does exact a price. "There are certain celebrity publicists who don't want me shooting their clients [some of the fearless celebs who've posed for Terry include Macaulay Culkin, Daniel Day-Lewis, Catherine Deneuve, Leonardo DiCaprio, Faye Dunaway, Tom Ford, Vincent Gallo, Samuel L. Jackson, Marc Jacobs, Li'l Kim, Lenny Kravitz, Juliette Lewis, Morrissey, Johnny Knoxville, Pink, Chloe Sevigny, Sharon Stone, Mark Wahlberg, John Waters and The Spice Girls], but the key is getting things published, so I don't try to do something that no one is ever going to see. When people meet me they say, 'You're so nice and sweet, I expected some monster.' I really am that 'golly gee' kind of sweet. That's why I'm able to get the images I do; I make people comfortable. I work quick and make them have fun. I'm good at getting really human pictures, not always sexual. I'd have a lot more money if I was more careful of what I do image-wise. I still have this struggle; I'd like to buy a house and all, but when I try to do pictures just for money I never do them that good. When I just do what makes me happy, that's what people respond to.
"In the end I'll be remembered for the snapshots. Kids come up to me on the street and say, 'You totally inspired me to take pictures by what I see on your website.' Some people still say, 'Well, I could do that' because it looks like snapshots, and I say, 'That's great, go out and do it.' I'm happy to inspire people." About that website. Terryrichardson.com's opening page bears the standard warning found on any porn site: "This site contains sexually oriented adult material intended for individuals 18 years of age or older. If you are not over 18 years of age, if adult material offends you..." The Picture of the Week on June 21st, 2004 showed Terry's assistant Keiichi brushing his teeth, shorts around his knees, penis erect. The galleries are divided into categories. Found Objects includes road signs and road kill, graffiti, religious mementos, a man preparing dope, a dog drinking beer. In Portraits one can find Terry's parents, friends, assistants, even, I just discovered, me. Celebrities features the folks listed above; but most of the other categories: Shine, Weed, Batman, Nude Dudes, Nude Girls are worthy of the triple X warning. Terry says, "I don't even know why I have a sex website. I don't want to work in the porn industry; if I was working for Barely Legal it wouldn't be a challenge. When you work in the fashion industry you can make things that are seen by so many people. That's the most subversive thing; to be out in the mainstream and get away with it.
I know most people have collections of this kind of material, even in the fashion industry. You look at the images from Iraq with that twenty-year-old girl making prisoners masturbate for the camera. It comes from porn. I think it will become the norm for people to have cameras in their homes, documenting their sexual activity. It's there; why not bring it out into a mainstream context? I guess it's just fun to have the website up, like a hobby, every guy's dream."
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Terry's bad boy reputation does exact a price. "There are certain celebrity publicists who don't want me shooting their clients [some of the fearless celebs who've posed for Terry include Macaulay Culkin, Daniel Day-Lewis, Catherine Deneuve, Leonardo DiCaprio, Faye Dunaway, Tom Ford, Vincent Gallo, Samuel L. Jackson, Marc Jacobs, Li'l Kim, Lenny Kravitz, Juliette Lewis, Morrissey, Johnny Knoxville, Pink, Chloe Sevigny, Sharon Stone, Mark Wahlberg, John Waters and The Spice Girls], but the key is getting things published, so I don't try to do something that no one is ever going to see. When people meet me they say, 'You're so nice and sweet, I expected some monster.' I really am that 'golly gee' kind of sweet. That's why I'm able to get the images I do; I make people comfortable. I work quick and make them have fun. I'm good at getting really human pictures, not always sexual. I'd have a lot more money if I was more careful of what I do image-wise. I still have this struggle; I'd like to buy a house and all, but when I try to do pictures just for money I never do them that good. When I just do what makes me happy, that's what people respond to.
"In the end I'll be remembered for the snapshots. Kids come up to me on the street and say, 'You totally inspired me to take pictures by what I see on your website.' Some people still say, 'Well, I could do that' because it looks like snapshots, and I say, 'That's great, go out and do it.' I'm happy to inspire people." About that website. Terryrichardson.com's opening page bears the standard warning found on any porn site: "This site contains sexually oriented adult material intended for individuals 18 years of age or older. If you are not over 18 years of age, if adult material offends you..." The Picture of the Week on June 21st, 2004 showed Terry's assistant Keiichi brushing his teeth, shorts around his knees, penis erect. The galleries are divided into categories. Found Objects includes road signs and road kill, graffiti, religious mementos, a man preparing dope, a dog drinking beer. In Portraits one can find Terry's parents, friends, assistants, even, I just discovered, me. Celebrities features the folks listed above; but most of the other categories: Shine, Weed, Batman, Nude Dudes, Nude Girls are worthy of the triple X warning. Terry says, "I don't even know why I have a sex website. I don't want to work in the porn industry; if I was working for Barely Legal it wouldn't be a challenge. When you work in the fashion industry you can make things that are seen by so many people. That's the most subversive thing; to be out in the mainstream and get away with it.
I know most people have collections of this kind of material, even in the fashion industry. You look at the images from Iraq with that twenty-year-old girl making prisoners masturbate for the camera. It comes from porn. I think it will become the norm for people to have cameras in their homes, documenting their sexual activity. It's there; why not bring it out into a mainstream context? I guess it's just fun to have the website up, like a hobby, every guy's dream."
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
(c) Terry Richardson