Shannon Brooke: How an Asexual Photographer Empowers Sex Workers

Leo Brooklyn
Aug 19
5 min read

LEO BROOKLYN IN CONVERSATION with SHANNON BROOK

PHOTOGRAPHY by SHANNON BROOK

A lense that doesn’t indulge in the conventional.

Shannon Brooke’s photography dances between grit and glamour, capturing windows into other worlds of sensual fantasy.

PETIT MORT (Leo Brooklyn)

You’ve been photographing sex workers and women in the erotic space for so long. How did you first get into working with these iconic women?

SHANNON BROOKE

I always wanted to photograph women I was attracted to, and I loved the pinup aesthetic of the early 2000s. I was inspired by the Vargas girls and the fetish paintings of women from the 1940s. I just started photographing women that way, and then they all started coming to me to be photographed. As I photographed more sex workers, I began attracting more female and femme fans on the internet. I just love the community—it brings me so much joy to show the power of women who do sex work. It’s such a beautiful connection we have with all of these amazing women who harness their own desire and power. I just love the aesthetic of it!

I’m curious about how you put that imagery out into the world. Are your photos for brands or publications, or mostly personal clients?

I went to school for photography, so from the beginning, I learned a lot about the business side. I graduated with a commercial advertising degree, and in the beginning, I was doing a lot of catalog work—shooting products. I worked at the Hot Topic headquarters for their plus-size line, that paid the bills. But from there, I was always shooting my own work with my friends and people I wanted to make art with, and people just started hiring me to shoot them in my style.

What inspires you about the women you photograph?

I think they’re such badasses. They’re so smart, brave, and rad for taking power and saying, "This is my body. I love my body. I want to do what I want with my body." That is so rad. One thing I’d like to mention in relation to what I photograph is that I’m not a sexual person. It’s crazy to me that I fell into this world of photographing all these sexy, powerful women. I don’t label myself, but I would say on a sliding scale, I’m definitely on the asexual side. I know that might sound crazy to people who aren’t asexual, but sex just grosses me out a little bit. I never spoke about this until a couple of years ago. It’s an important thing for me to say now because a lot of people don’t talk about being asexual. The first time I heard someone talk about it, I wanted to hear more. I didn’t know that was a thing, and it made me feel a lot better about myself. Every relationship I had before was horrible because I never wanted to have sex. It felt disgusting to me. It’s important for me to accept who I am and talk about it, so others feel comfortable being who they are.