In the pay-per-perve world where the Cam Girls live, nothing is as it seems.
Peel away the sex and pixels and money and you’re left with the cloudy truth about the internet’s relationship status with these on-demand entertainers: It’s complicated.
These images capture the individuality of each model by breaking through the facades that separate performer from woman-at-home. These idiosyncrasies are often captured in moments of disarming non-performance, accentuated by the choice of frames where the titular Cam Girls are often partially in shot, not in shot at all or are juxtaposed against moments where I’ve given them direction via online chat. And the terms of our engagement?
I would pay these women for their time, taking on the role of client. Clear communication allowed us to collaborate in not just taking a picture, but making one. Sometimes direction was dynamic, such as: “Can you dance for a while?” Sometimes it was intentionally banal, such as: “Please leave the frame so I can capture the empty room.” As I discovered, at times their seldom absent environments spoke as loudly as the tireless presence of the Cam Girls inside them.
These images have something to say about the relationship between the ‘real’ and the ‘virtual’ in contemporary life, urging viewers to reconsider the boundaries between the two. It is a virtual exploration at the crossroads of technology, sex, money, performance, business, and the human need to connect.
Their world exists via webcam in all its pixelated and glitchy wonder. That is how their audience experiences this world so it did not make sense to document it in a traditional way. The intimate images are voyeuristic but staged and in that schism lies something intriguing I think.
Collaboration is key to make this project work for everyone involved. A photo book is underway and will be not be available in traditional book stores. It will be distributed online via the Cam models who in return will receive a percentage of sales.
