This is a guestpost written by a guy named Matt.
So, back in 2010, I was a genuine fan of some of the glamour nude photography of that time. I would peruse various galleries to see new photos and kept seeing that most I liked were from Digital Desire. It’s a site that was started by J. Stephen Hicks, who was a prolific photographer in the field. He’d spent quite a bit of time working for Playboy, Penthouse, etc. He eventually just went on his own because the internet was taking over from magazines as the primary source of glamour nudes and pornography. Stephen didn’t shoot any hardcore material for his site. It wasn’t his thing. He and his photographers were more interested in capturing the woman’s beauty.
One of the areas that I would browse on occasion was Model Mayhem. At the time, it was easy to get an account, and you could look over any new models that did nude shoots. One day I decided to send an email with some photos that I had found along with their contact info and just asked, “You guys ever see this one? She’d be great for your site.” They answered that they had not, but they were always looking for new talent. They’d love it if I would send any I found.
Here is the Full Story
I found tons and sent them all I could find. At the time, there weren’t any major agencies for that kind of work, so these models were using various websites to post their portfolios. Some models were excellent, but quite a few weren’t worth a second look. I had fun just trying to send as many as I could.
One day, after many days of replies, they wanted to reward me with something for my efforts. They wanted to send a Blu-ray with their videos. It was something that they used to sell on the site. That was a nice thing on their part. Stephen said that I had a real eye for spotting talent and had me send most of the model info to one of his photographers, Mark Lit. It was a good relationship.
Months later, they wanted to reward me again for all my footwork and wanted to send another Blu-Ray. I wasn’t really my thing. I asked if I could do something different. I wondered if I could send some minor signs for the models to hold and just get a goody photo. They happily agreed. I worked for a sign company doing graphics, so making a dozen minor signs and shipping them to California was easy.
The guys got the signs and had a good laugh. I tried my best to be witty and self-deprecating with their content. They started getting the models to hold them here and there for a laugh. The photos have been in my possession ever since, and I show them just for laughs. I hope you get a chuckle as well.
Mark told me they paid referral fees when they signed one of the models. It was between $200 and $250 per appearance. After all was said and done over the next year, I made over $2000. It was strange to say that I got paid by a pornsite, but a bit funny as well. I did help them find some models that some would recognise. In no way did I “discover” them, but here are the names of those I helped find.
The Models I referred
- Amber Sym – goes by Tara Price and Tara Dane on IMDB
- Niki Lee Young
- Abigaile Mac – Former spelling she used. This was before she did porn. She was a webcam model previously.
- Annalisa Greco
- Melissa Riso – aka Claire Sanders. This one is a weird story that I’m not sure I should get into.
- Julia Luba
- Zoi Gorman – aka Karmen Foxcom, aka Jasmine Andreas
I also help them find Lacy Spice, but they hated her hair. They wanted to put a wig on her, which is something that they did on occasion, but she didn’t want it. She left. No fee for me. There was another girl whose name I could not find, but it wasn’t a great shoot anyway. Mark asked me what I thought about the photos. He said she wanted to direct herself in the shoot, and he didn’t care much about that. She was climbing all over dressers and cabinets. Oh well.
The Photos
To wind this up, one day something bad had happened. Stephen went in for surgery and passed away on the table. It was a shock. The team was still trying to make things work as the studio was at Stephen’s ranch in California. His wife and son took over the business. Mark ended up leaving because of differences in opinion about the direction they wanted to go in. Charles Lightfoot was the other photographer at the time.
I’m not sure if he’s still there, but the site started getting more involved in shooting hardcore porn and was connected to other sites. It’s something that Stephen always seemed opposed to. Oh well. I stopped looking for talent because agencies started popping up, and they were hard to compete with. Now? There’s no way to compete with OnlyFans. I hope you enjoyed my tale and the attached photos.
Thanks,
Matt