"Her work reminds me of the access Diane Arbus had to her subject matter."
—Richard Prince. Naomi Harris, America Swings.
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RP: You told me that someone approached you on one of these beaches and asked you to go with him to a swingers' party.... Is that how you were first introduced to the "swinger" subject?
NH: It was there at the beach that I met "Roger," a man in his 60s who was also a swinger. I didn't know it when I first started coming to the beach, but a good proportion of these nudists were also swingers and they would throw orgies on the beach when the sun was setting. I had to wait to be invited as a "key" to a club called Trapeze in Fort Lauderdale. So one Sunday night, shortly before I moved away from Miami in 2002, I picked up "Roger" and we went over to the club. It was in a strip mall in a very commercial part of town. Nondescript, downright seedy from the outside, but inside there was a dance floor and a large buffet complete with a chef in white with a big chef's hat, carving roast beef and serving scalloped potatoes.We stuffed ourselves and then 20 minutes later went to the back room where all the sex was going on. You were not permitted to enter the back dressed; you had to change into a towel. As a nudist I was fine with that; as a young lady I felt like a piece of sirloin. We went in the group sex room, which was more or less a row of about six mismatched beds pushed together. This was the first time I had ever seen anyone having sex in person."Roger" leaned over to me and said,"Isn't that hot?" and I nodded in agreement, but it was all I could do to contain my laughter. I don't know if it was because I was about to explode from dinner or because I was in so many ways still a child, but I found the whole thing to be hilarious. And everyone was taking it all so seriously. We stayed and watched for a couple of hours but neither of us did anything. That was the understanding; I was his guest, but he had no expectations of me whatsoever. When we left I knew I had to start photographing this, because no one would believe me when I told stories of what I'd seen, like the woman at 3 in the morning picking food from the breakfast buffet stark naked but for heels.
RP: Aside from getting permission... how long were you in the picture when you photographed that girl getting her birthday present?
NH: I was in the room for about three hours. It was her 26th birthday and she was supposed to get a 26-person gang bang. I photographed the first couple and watched her being prepped for anal and her actually taking it from behind. Her husband was out recruiting others but since he was a mess from GHB he wasn't very successful. After her first couple, she got together with that gorgeous young girl and they used strap-ons on each other. All I could think about was how much rough sex she'd already had and how was she going to survive 24 more people? I guess she was actually fortunate that her husband didn't come through with any others, and frankly, I had had enough at that point myself.
RP: I'm assuming someone like Diane Arbus is a favorite of yours, but is there anyone else who doesn't come to mind that you really dig as a photographer?
NH: I adore Diane Arbus. I love the fact that she was attracted to people whom others chose to ignore. It's obvious that she had interactions with the people she photographed; one doesn't get those sorts of photos by being merely an observer. I also really love the English photographer Martin Parr, the Swedish photographer Lars Tunbjörk, the early work of Richard Billingham and Nick Waplington. Also Bellocq, Disfarmer, and August Sander. I suppose you can see a pattern here: I love the obscure and realism. I adore seeing what goes on behind closed doors and love the photographers who are able to get access to really tough situations.
Page 1 2 3 4 5
Page 1 2 3 4 5
RP: You told me that someone approached you on one of these beaches and asked you to go with him to a swingers' party.... Is that how you were first introduced to the "swinger" subject?
NH: It was there at the beach that I met "Roger," a man in his 60s who was also a swinger. I didn't know it when I first started coming to the beach, but a good proportion of these nudists were also swingers and they would throw orgies on the beach when the sun was setting. I had to wait to be invited as a "key" to a club called Trapeze in Fort Lauderdale. So one Sunday night, shortly before I moved away from Miami in 2002, I picked up "Roger" and we went over to the club. It was in a strip mall in a very commercial part of town. Nondescript, downright seedy from the outside, but inside there was a dance floor and a large buffet complete with a chef in white with a big chef's hat, carving roast beef and serving scalloped potatoes.We stuffed ourselves and then 20 minutes later went to the back room where all the sex was going on. You were not permitted to enter the back dressed; you had to change into a towel. As a nudist I was fine with that; as a young lady I felt like a piece of sirloin. We went in the group sex room, which was more or less a row of about six mismatched beds pushed together. This was the first time I had ever seen anyone having sex in person."Roger" leaned over to me and said,"Isn't that hot?" and I nodded in agreement, but it was all I could do to contain my laughter. I don't know if it was because I was about to explode from dinner or because I was in so many ways still a child, but I found the whole thing to be hilarious. And everyone was taking it all so seriously. We stayed and watched for a couple of hours but neither of us did anything. That was the understanding; I was his guest, but he had no expectations of me whatsoever. When we left I knew I had to start photographing this, because no one would believe me when I told stories of what I'd seen, like the woman at 3 in the morning picking food from the breakfast buffet stark naked but for heels.
RP: Aside from getting permission... how long were you in the picture when you photographed that girl getting her birthday present?
NH: I was in the room for about three hours. It was her 26th birthday and she was supposed to get a 26-person gang bang. I photographed the first couple and watched her being prepped for anal and her actually taking it from behind. Her husband was out recruiting others but since he was a mess from GHB he wasn't very successful. After her first couple, she got together with that gorgeous young girl and they used strap-ons on each other. All I could think about was how much rough sex she'd already had and how was she going to survive 24 more people? I guess she was actually fortunate that her husband didn't come through with any others, and frankly, I had had enough at that point myself.
RP: I'm assuming someone like Diane Arbus is a favorite of yours, but is there anyone else who doesn't come to mind that you really dig as a photographer?
NH: I adore Diane Arbus. I love the fact that she was attracted to people whom others chose to ignore. It's obvious that she had interactions with the people she photographed; one doesn't get those sorts of photos by being merely an observer. I also really love the English photographer Martin Parr, the Swedish photographer Lars Tunbjörk, the early work of Richard Billingham and Nick Waplington. Also Bellocq, Disfarmer, and August Sander. I suppose you can see a pattern here: I love the obscure and realism. I adore seeing what goes on behind closed doors and love the photographers who are able to get access to really tough situations.
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Captain Richy / Bella Vita All Nude Boating Regatta / Miami, FL / March 2006. Photo: Naomi Harris
