Twenty years later, his Lowlife black-and-white portraits remain a brutal and honest celebration of gritty everyday life at the edge of fading Sunset Strip's dreams. Trini, Dixie, Cheri β prostitutes Sothern met, paid, drank or slept with. I made photographs in crappy motel rooms in Hollywood and empty lots and alleys in Skid Row.
It began as a bit of a lark and became an integral part of my life. Scot Sothern: It took me twenty years to get the photos and stories noticed so in a way it still seems new to me, like I just did it, and I do still go out shooting now and again.
I still enjoy driving around Los Angeles in the dark and quiet hours. I grew up in the darkroom and behind the lens and always worked as a photographer. In high school, in the 60s, I discovered two-to-ten-dollar prostitutes. I liked the sex and the thrill factor, you know. In my thirties I began going to prostitutes again and I had a camera around my neck, so it just happened.
How do you think your personal involvement is showing in the work? I hope my politics are in every picture and I hope my empathy shows through.
The pictures are me, through and through. I picked up hookers and paid them and set up the pictures wherever we ended up. I enjoy throwing a picture together in a moment. How do you relate to the fact that people may interpret your photographs differently from how you had originally conceived them? The photographs from Lowlife show a really honest and raw take on beauty, sex and life. Is that how you would describe your approach to the world around you? Scot Sothern: I try to be honest with my work and my life.
