Sadie Lune describes herself as a “multimedia artist, sex worker, and pleasure activist.” I’ve been documenting her in different formats and for different reasons for almost two years now. The first time I just hung out with her all day and took pictures of her for my photojournalism class in the Fall of 2008. In spring of 2009, while taking a video class, I had an assignment to interview someone about how the bad economy was affecting them. First I brought in an interview with a skateshop manager that sounded pretty much the same as all the other clerks and business owners everyone else had interviewed. So when I did my reshoot I wanted it to be a little more original, and I figured one rarely gets to hear from sex workers themselves, and of course Sadie was down.
Then, when I was living in Berlin during the summer of 2009, I was out one evening eating ice cream and I just happened to bump into her. When I came back to San Francisco that fall, I photographed and wrote about one of her performances.
This spring we had the chance to collaborate for the fourth time. Whereas before the situation has been more journo-centered, trying to fulfill an assignment, this time it was really a collaboration. I just wanted to photograph someone and practice some personality portraiture.
I gave Sadie free reign and basically told her I would photograph her in whatever situation/attire/concept she wanted. I’m just here to light you and push the button, everything else is up to you. And that’s how I ended up photographing Sadie pushing her pet snakes inside a stroller while wearing what she described as a “very slutty dress” and makeup on the corner of 21st and Valencia streets on a busy Saturday afternoon.
Since I said I would photograph anything, she decided to include me in a photography project, where she will pose for a series of portraits. Sadie gave me the news that she wants to become a mother, and this project is her way of exploring the intersection between motherhood and sex work. Each concept is being shot by a different photographer. I got “Strolling.” And you should see “Potty Training.” Another is birthing, and Sadie is coming up with more.
Sadie is not only open about her occupation, she is proud of it. If you were to start talking to her at a bar and ask her what she does for a living, she would not hesitate to tell you. When she was a child, she knew this is what she wanted to be when she grew up. It makes her happy to help others explore new facets of themselves, and to bring them her special brand of joy.
She knows that for some folks out there, the idea that an out and proud sex worker would want to become a mother is outrageous. Some are just bothered that people like her exist. She knows that raising a child in her situation will come with particular challenges that few other mothers come upon.
I was surprised when she told me she wanted to become a mother. “You want to have a kid in the next few years?” More like this year. “Life is short right? Follow your dreams.” And with that, her news didn’t seem so shocking anymore. I have such respect for her because she has the courage to live the life she wants to live and she makes no apologies for it. I think she is going to be a great mom very soon.
I remember how she just barely found the stroller at literally the last minute. I almost had to cancel on her because she was running late and I had other commitments that evening. But in the end she pulled it off. We were kind of hurried and she had other things going on, like flying back to Germany the next day. We were about to hurry out the door when she then stopped and asked if we had time for her to take one final look at her checklist. We were running tight on time but I decided it’s better to make sure we have everything we need rather than get out there and find something missing. So I told her to go ahead. I thought the checklist would be regarding to poses or particular messages. But it was about props. And we did have everything already, but she just had to have a second look, just in case.
The checklist looked something like this:
- snakes
- stroller
- slutty makeup
- slutty dress and shoes
- big hair
Check. And off we went.
