Photographic Portraits of "Off Duty" Porn Stars

Photographer Roger Kisby, in his second year shooting the Adult Video News Awards, decided to go a different route in covering the event. Kisby said in an interview with Refinery 29,

"I wanted to do portraits of the performers, to do something that was authentic and honest that would strip away — no pun intended — their outer performer aspects and [get at] who they are.

It was a challenge. I only had a few minutes with the performers, and I was trying to do a lot in that time — introducing myself, telling them what I do, and making them feel comfortable, so I could grab a real, natural moment. A lot of them have go-to 'porn poses' or 'porn faces' for lack of a better term, and that was something I tried to get them to not do."

To achieve his goal, Kisby used a simple light setup and traditional, "face-to-face" shooting angle, which presented the subjects' features in a way that was genuine. 

See all 25 of Kisby's portraits here, and visit his website to see more of his work.