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February 06, 2014 - Image 54

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 2014-02-06

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

arts & entertainment

The Dirty Show

Jewish day-school graduate
photographs Middle American swingers.

Lynne Konstantin

Contributing Writer

I

don't like tan lines" says Naomi Harris.
"And I don't like bathing suits"
So the photographer occasionally
visited a favorite nude beach in Miami,
where she met friendly people. One of
them, a 65-year-old nudist, told her about
the local sub-community of swing par-
ties. Knowing she was a photographer, he
invited her to one.
She accompanied him to an empty ware-
house in an industrial strip mall.
"A few hours before, these were regular
people in front of you in line at the super-
market, and now they are in front of you,
naked, filling their plates in the buffet line
before they have sex," says Harris, 40. "I
knew then I had to start shooting swingers,
because the crazy things I saw, I knew no
one would believe me"
Harris and her work will be part of "The
Dirty Show" the largest annual erotic art
exhibit in the world, returning to Detroit for
its 15th year at a new, more spacious venue:
the Russell Industrial Exhibition Center in
Detroit. It runs Friday-Sunday, Feb. 7-9, and
Friday and Saturday, Feb. 14-15.

The first weekend's special guest is multi-
media artist Pat Oleszko, followed by Harris
on the second weekend of the exhibit.
They will join more than 200 international,
national and local artists for the show.
Harris, 40, had studied printmaking
in her native Toronto, where she also
attended Jewish day school before heading
to the photojournalism and documentary
program at New York City's International
Center of Photography.
"I found that photography was a way to
approach people I might not otherwise,"
says Harris. "I like hearing people's stories"
She soon relocated to Miami and, while
freelancing for the Miami Herald and the
New York Times, photographed a self-
driven, prize-winning series of the residents
of Haddon Hall, a senior retirement hotel
that catered to mostly Jewish "bubbies and
zaydies," says Harris. It was during this
project that she learned about the swingers.
After that first party, Harris was
granted permission to bring her camera to
Swingstock, a four-day self-described camp-
ing and fornication festival in Wisconsin
with more than 1,000 revelers.
"There's something funny about people
doing things in the daytime, outdoors, but

Naomi Harris visited more than 40 swing parties across the country, photographing
members of Middle America.

completely naked, like flossing their teeth
after eating lunch" says Harris. "That's
really funny to me"
The photographs are striking, also, in
the fact that her subjects are not the "sexy
young girls who we want to see naked" she
says. "These are regular people, who could
lose 50 or 100 pounds, and it's not what
people want to see"
She began criss-crossing the coun-
try, documenting the secret world of
American swingers: a Valentine's party
in Minneapolis, a gathering in San Jose
— photographing more than 40 parties
of middle-class mate-swapping in homes,
hotels and clubs.
Always respectful and requesting permis-
sion, she says, "I wasn't there to ruin people;
I was there to document this lifestyle.
"I think that everyone knows that
swinging exists. And given the chance, I
wanted to see it for myself, because that's
what I do" says Harris. "In my opinion,

it's the least sexy thing I've ever seen, but
there was a thrill to being granted access
to it and permission to document it,
because not many people have.
"I don't actually consider it erotic art"
says Harris. "I don't intend it to titillate. I
consider it a documentary statement on
America"



"The Dirty Show" runs 8:30 p.m.-2
a.m. Fridays and Saturdays, Feb. 7-8
and 14-15, at the Russell Industrial
Exhibition Center, 1600 Clay Ave.,
in Detroit. Naomi Harris will appear
at 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb.
14-15, for a lecture and slide show
from her book, America Swings. 21
and over/advance tickets: $30. The
show is open for those ages 18+ at
noon-4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 9: $15,
at the door only. (800) 838-3006;
www.dirtydetroit.com .

1300 Lafayette East

Native Detroiter's play has world premiere at JET.

Ronelle Grier

Contributing Writer

A

s notable Detroit addresses
go, 1300 Lafayette East is one
of the most prominent. The
30-story luxury apartment building, now a
co-op, was the home of million-dollar views
and million-dollar tenants that included
Diana Ross and other Motown stars.
When it opened in 1964, the build-
ing was populated by professionals of all
races and backgrounds, including young
Jewish newlyweds adventurous enough to
forego traditional neighborhoods for life in
Downtown Detroit.
1300 Lafayette East, by New York play-
wright (and Detroit native) Brooke Berman,
is the story of two women who dared to
forge a precarious friendship despite the fact
that their shared address was virtually the
only thing they had in common. The play,
a joint production of JET and Plowshares
Theatre Company, is directed by Gary
Anderson, Plowshares' artistic director.
Lisa Lauren Smith plays Reena, a well-
endowed (literally and artistically) black

54

February 6 • 2014

singer who aspires to take her career beyond
backup gigs and occasional solos at the
Roostertail, a Detroit nightclub famed for
booking unknown black singers in the '60s.
Elly, played by JET intern Sharla Mills, is
a naive Jewish housewife who spends her
days shopping and spying on tenants she
perceives as glamorous (such as Reena).
The two women meet when Elly, carry-
ing a vintage Hudson's shopping
bag, courtesy of Props Designer
Diane Ulseth, encounters
Reena, who is locked out of her
apartment. Reena is pacing back and forth
in an elegant white peignoir set, which Elly
realizes has been paid for by a married man.
After some initial protests, Reena agrees to
accept Elly's offer of coffee and a borrowed
dress, and a shaky friendship begins.
We soon learn that both women have
more in common beneath the surface than
above it: Both are controlled by dominat-
ing men who do not necessarily have their
women's best interests at heart.
Elly's husband, David (Andrew Papa),
is a young Jewish professional determined
to rise above his parents' middle-class
existence. While appearing at first to be the

ideal Jewish husband and provider, his
flaws and secrets soon become apparent —
to the audience if not to his own wife.
The other cast members include
Bello Pizzimenti as William, the son of
the illustrious building's doorman, and
Roosevelt Johnson as Clive, the music
executive whom Reena appeals to for help
with her career.
The set, by Alexander Carr,
is dominated by large screens
portraying various scenes from
Detroit during the late '60s. Two
black leather sofas, reversed during scene
changes, serve to furnish David and Elly's
living room, the apartment building lobby,
Clive's office and the basement laundry
room of 1300 Lafayette East, where Elly and
Reena meet to share cigarettes and secrets.
Christa Koerner's costumes are a high-
light, especially those worn by Elly and
Reena, who almost never appear in the
same outfit twice. Reena's colorful peignoir
sets, brocade suits and figure-flattering
dresses are juxtaposed with Elly's more con-
servative wardrobe.
Sound, by Matthew Lira, includes a
variety of between-scenes songs taken

REV IEW

Reena (Lisa Lauren Smith) and Elly
(Sharla Mills) attempt to forge a
friendship in 1967 Detroit.

from the era the play depicts.
While the play focuses on two individu-
als at a particular time in Detroit history, it
explores themes that transcend its setting:
friendship, race relations, prejudice and the
challenges of balancing romantic relation-
ships with one's own dreams.



JET presents 1300 Lafayette East
through Feb. 23 in the Aaron DeRoy
Theatre at the Jewish Community
Center in West Bloomfield. $41-$48/
discounts for seniors, students and
groups. (248) 788-2900; www.
jettheatre.org . (The play also runs
March 6-30 at the Charles H. Wright
Museum of African American History
in Detroit; www.plowshares.org .)

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