by Bill Noble
(03/06/02)
Annie Benner and Daniel Vistowe (not
their real names) are a decidedly nontraditional couple. One lives
on the East coast, one on the West. They're committed lovers, but
both have other relationships. One's a 20-something academic, the
other a middle-aged freelancer. In March of 2001, they spent three
hours making love in front of Michael Rosen's cameras. Dan and
Annie tell us what it was like.
Clean Sheets: Had you ever done anything like this?
Annie: Heck, no! I've modeled for artists, but I've never
had sex anywhere more public than a park late at night behind a very
thick cover of trees. It was brand-new for Dan, too. Right?
Dan: (Grins) Even at my advanced age.
CS: What possessed you to immortalize your sex life?
Dan: When the idea first came up, we knew we'd do it in a
flash. I can't exactly explain why: we have a bit of exhibitionist
in us, I guess, but mostly we were in love and wanted to celebrate it.
I ran into Michael at an event in San Francisco. He's gentle and
no-bullshit. I liked him a lot. I went straight home and e-mailed
Annie, including the URL for Michael's Web site. It was as
simple as that -- the next day we asked Michael to photograph us.
CS: Was the idea a turn-on?
Annie: Was the idea a turn on? It would've been if I'd ever
thought about it. I didn't fantasize because I had tons happening in
my day-to-day life that kept San Francisco at the back of my mind.
It'd cross my consciousness occasionally and I'd grin, but we didn't
even talk about the session much once I got to San Francisco. We just
did it.
CS: Would anybody ever see your pictures?
Dan: Michael will publish them. That was the deal: we'd have
wild, wanton sex for free; in exchange we'd get twelve 8 x 10 prints;
and Michael would use the work in his gallery exhibits, his books, and
his magazine work. So, yeah, thousands of people will see them.
CS: Was that scary?
Annie: Hmm, let's see. Take off your clothes, fuck an old
man, and have someone take pictures of it. Then have the photographer
mail the pictures around the world for people to scrutinize and
criticize and accept or reject based on their "artistic merit." Is my
ass artistic? Is my squishy belly gonna look beautiful in grainy
black and white? What kind of faces do you make when you're turned
on? Because I look pretty goofy. Can you make your sex be pretty
without being saccharine? If your picture hangs in a gallery, will
people look at it? Will they like it? Will they be bored, or will
they be aroused? Do you want them to be aroused, or is that too
personal? Was it scary? (grins) Nope, not at all.
CS: Was it more intense on the day of the shoot? On your way
to the studio?
Dan: We spent the morning with my family. When it was time,
we just hopped in the car. It was a glorious California day, even in
the city. We walked up to Michael's door hand in hand. It wasn't
intense: it was exalted...
Annie: ...Um, actually, it was rushed and busy. Much hair
removal happened that morning, the kids had to be shuttled to
school, other typical morning stuff. We ran errands on the way. We
went to the drugstore for condoms. There was an undercurrent of
excitement and anticipation, but I wouldn't call it exalted.
Dan: Well, once we got there, it was exalted. We hugged
Michael -- he'd insisted on a long pre-shoot interview the week
before, so we felt pretty connected -- and took off our clothes.
Annie: (to Dan) No, you took off your clothes, but it was
cold in the studio at first; I stayed dressed as long as I could.
Michael asked to shoot a little with me dressed, so we have yummy
pictures of Dan naked and me in my overalls
Dan: I was super turned on. I vibrate when I get intensely
excited, but that day I didn't. I was so turned on my cock ached, but
I was very relaxed.
CS: And then?
Annie: Well, Dan was turned on, but the Viagra helped.
Dan: Smart ass! We'd both decided Viagra'd be useful if
this insatiable woman was going to suck me and fuck me and lick me for
three hours in front of a camera.
Annie: (smirks) Either way, he was nervous. I was a lot
more relaxed, so I was actually the one who initiated. I started
kissin' on him, and my clothes gradually came off, and from there
we just played. Michael is an amazingly easy person to have sex in
front of -- gentle and positive. It was odd to be giving head and
hear him say, "Now just come to rest there..." and I'd spend 10
seconds with the head of Dan's cock pressed against my soft
palate. Or "Annie, move your hand forward a little" as I'm
getting eaten out.
Dan: Or, "Pull way out and hold it" just before
somebody's orgasm. Aaargh! (grins again)
Annie: It was weird, but not at all threatening or
intrusive. We actually laughed quite a bit, and kidded Michael.
CS: You managed to have orgasms?
Dan: Annie had buckets of them. I came to the screaming
brink a dozen times or so, and held off. By the end I was
hyper-stimulated but couldn't climax. I never came until we were
in bed that night. But as long as we're telling stories on each
other...
Annie: (raises an eyebrow)
Dan: When Michael sent the proofs -- a hundred and forty of
them -- Annie was shocked by her come-face. Her orgasm is really
intense: her mouth stretches into this astonished, elongated,
slanting "O." It's incredibly beautiful, but she wouldn't allow
either of us to have any prints of it. There's a sequence of Annie
facing the camera with me licking her, and another of full-out
doggie-style. She goes from serene to completely demented. But
they're lost forever. (Pouts)
Annie: (sticks out her tongue)
CS: What pictures were the greatest turn-ons?
Annie: Well after the erotic part was over...
Dan: ...when we were completely saturated...
Annie: ...Michael shot several pictures of us being cuddly
and happy. In one we're both looking directly at the camera and you
can see the glow in us both. I like those the best.
Dan: It was a classic boy-girl thing: I wanted genitals and
fucking; Annie wanted emotional connection. But we could only have
twelve pictures. We compromised and both got the ones we wanted
most. Can I confess? It's that shot of our faces that I look at
most. Second for both of us is the print that's with this interview, the sculptural
one.
CS: So what did you do after you spent the morning having
sex in front of a camera? Go home and take a nap?
Dan: After we left Michael's was the biggest turn-on! This
was Annie's first trip to San Francisco. We had roast beef at a
hundred-year-old dive, Tommy's Joynt, then wandered around Polk
Street, in the heart of the gay community. We got ice-cream at a
little Ben & Jerry's that's a community fundraiser. It was like a
thirties romance movie: we were pie-eyed in love, and every store we
went into, clerks -- even a leather shop! -- gave us presents or
gushed all over us. Everybody was in love with how much in love we
were.
Annie: He's so Californian. Isn't he cute? But it's true,
it was amazing. What I remember really intensely is the ride home in
his truck. We sat close together and split the remains of my fruit
slushie thing and talked about death, actually. Dan was wearing a
soft, fuzzy blue shirt and he smelled really nice. I think that truck
ride is the most in love I've ever felt.
Read an interview with Michael Rosen, in this issue
View the new Clean Sheets gallery of his work
Read the review of Michael Rosen's books
Visit Michael Rosen's Web site
