What's Left of Porn: Empty Adult Film Sets

Photographer Jo Broughton worked part-time as a cleaner in a London porn studio during the day, and at night she shot empty sets on the sets of adult films. The Empty Porn Sets photo project is a typical example of a successful combination of circumstances and intuition that affect the results of creativity.

Jo grew up in Essex. Relatives were not too interested in her inner world and did not seek to communicate. At a young age, she ran away from home to live with the "white witches", and through Thurrock College got to one of the photographers as an assistant. She did not know that it was a porn studio, and its owner would become her mentor, teacher and protector. He gave her shelter, a job, photography training and the contents of this photo project.

(12 photos in total)

Source: Jo Broughton

A scene with balloons.

The photographer started taking these pictures in 2001 while studying at the Royal College of Art, financing the project and her education by moonlighting as a cleaner in a porn studio. When silence fell and all the actors went home, she photographed what was left of the day's filming. The resulting works are distinguished by calmness, which contrasts with the nature of the porn industry itself.

G. Jane.

These are platforms for base fantasies that resemble historical documents confirming sexual intercourse. At first glance, they look like tastelessly decorated home interiors. The colors here are bright, and the textures are simple and at the same time promotional. If you look closely, you can see hints: lubricant packaging, dildo, lighting around the edges and fragments of the pavilion on the background. Gradually it becomes clear that these are fantasy scenes, crude pictures without naked bodies. Jo took what she sees every day and used it as a source of inspiration.

The scene with the pink chair.

"This studio is the only home I've ever known, a place of safety, shelter, warmth and, most importantly, acceptance. Sometimes it was hard for me to watch what was going on there, in terms of objectifying women… I hid my connection with the porn industry as a dirty secret, but without it I probably wouldn't have been able to realize my ambitions. I can't say that I have reconciled with the porn industry, but now I realize that there are two sides to everything, light and dark," says the author of the photo project.

A scene with an ice cave.

"As a cleaner, I saw film sets in the cold light of day. Garbage collection and tidying up created the feeling of being at the crime scene. Since I was dealing with unavoidable physiological substances, it allowed me to feel my human nature, as well as the vulnerability of the models who played in front of the camera that day. After all, I was learning a craft, trying to understand the nature of light and how to photograph really well."

Pink satin bed.

A scene with gifts.

A scene with a sleep mask.

A scene in the classroom.

The scene in the hospital.

Christmas scene.

The scene with the bed straightened out.

Christmas scene.