Warning: This post contains nudity and may not be suitable for work.
Barcelona-based photographer Katia Repina met Marta on her second week on the job. Marta was a pornographic actress and Repina was working on a documentary about the industry. Marta was 23, and she was not forced into the porn industry; she has no extenuating circumstances forcing the situation upon her. She chose a career in porn.
“When I first met her, I was so surprised by how open and sincere she was,” Repina explained to The Huffington Post. “I felt that she was very different from other porn actresses. I remember thinking, probably, it’s because she is just two weeks in. All girls change when they enter the industry.”
Repina resolved to find out for herself. She reached out to Marta, asking to meet up. The two maintained a friendship for three years and, for two of them, Repina chronicled the relationship on camera. The resulting photo series, called “Llmame Marta” or “Call Me Marta,” documents a young woman’s initiation into the porn industry, and the moments ordinary and not-so-much that arise along the way.
“I was fascinated with her strong character and obsession to control everything, and at the same moment, she was so tender and sincere,” Repina said. “I just wanted to document how all these characteristics were coexisting with her new job in pornography.”
The black-and-white photographs chronicle a woman who is so much more than just her job title. In one image, Marta applies makeup before a shoot, in another she lifts weights at the gym. She walks her dog, climbs atop a nude body during a shoot, recruits her boyfriend to help remove her pubic hair. The series is presented by Repina without judgment or agenda, neither a defense of the porn industry nor a takedown of it, far removed from documentaries like “Hot Girls Wanted.” Instead, the images paint a shadowy yet revealing portrait of a complex young woman. No overarching message, no moral. Just Marta.
“She is an amazing person with a big heart,” Repina said, “and if she loves somebody, it is for real.”
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Martas ex-boyfriend accepted her job as part of her life, but had difficulty dealing with it. He watched her videos and saw her posts and pictures on social media. Marta admits that she wouldnt date someone in the porn industry — but recognizes the paradox. -
Marta during a live performance. As an actress, I give my limits. Ill say, I do this, this and this. If you do not like it, Im out.
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Marta shooting a scene.
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Some people think: Shes an actress, she fucks and gets real pleasure. No, Im working, she explains. This is Martas second week doing porn.
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Marta is not a victim of circumstances: she has no small children and doesnt come from extreme poverty. She chose porn freely.
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Ill always have the gym People come and go in life, except for family and a handful of lifelong friends and the gym, my lifestyle. When she was younger, Marta competed in and won female body competitions. She still regularly trains for the competitions, which she hopes to enter again, but she doesnt consider herself ready yet.
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After a few weeks of being in the industry, Marta knows that it is not paying as well as she thought it would. She performs in a peep show.
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Marta with her ex-boyfriend, a Ukrainian body-builder, whom she lived with for a year.
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Before starting in the industry, Marta had no partner but craved a relationship. Although surrounded by men in her work life, she finds her personal life is spent mostly alone. She was in the industry for over half a year when she met her ex-boyfriend.
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Once she started in the industry, Marta explained the choice to her parents. She says theyll never understand or accept it, but they stand by her. They love me and are the greatest thing I have, she says.
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Marta separates her public personality, the porn actress, and Marta, a very normal girl.
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Marta explains the world of pornography is very different from what she imagined. I have to separate [porn and my personal life], because I can be very aggressive or vicious during shooting but in my personal life, Im myself, Im humble, Im not a primadonna.
H/T Narratively
Read more: www.huffingtonpost.com
