THE PROJECTS: HOW TO SHOOT A MOPE

THE PROJECTS is a series focused on reinventing the journalist as an autonomous creator, exploring new avenues for digital self-publishing in a transforming media climate, and inspiring a new generation of creators to redefine how they do business in the digital age. Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. The projects section of this site can be found here.

The first time I took photos on the set of a movie was on September 27, 2000. I was doing a story on bukkake movies for a magazine, and the editor asked me to please take photos while I was there. So I did.  

That night was the first time I met Jim Powers, an infamous porn director I would end up writing about for over a decade. Nowadays, he also sells real estate.

I took this photo of one of the mopes.

I was using a Nikon Coolpix that twisted in the middle, so you could hold it at waist-level and stare down at the live shot on the display screen while the lens focused on what was in front of you.

It made it look like you weren't taking photos. That made it easier for me to fade into the wallpaper. 

As a journalist, it's important to do things that push you outside of your comfort zone. Especially if you are a woman.

It is not acceptable to be complacent, no matter your gender. It is not enough to complain that journalism is a boys club and do nothing about it. Every female journalist who hides behind her computer and wails about the lack of female bylines is doing nothing to change the ratio. She is not your sympathizer. She is your paralyzer.

Good journalists, real journalists, live in the world. They take risks. They dare to be afraid. They make a home in discomfort. They show up with extra pens and take photos of what they're not supposed to take photos of and ask questions that make other people uncomfortable because that is the only way you get at the truth: with a pickaxe.

[Related: Porn Valley, USA ]