Empty Adult Movie Sets Photographed by Jo Broughton.

Balloons, dildos, a modernist classroom, tinsel, bondage and an ice cave – all in a days work for Jo Broughton, who earned a living cleaning adult movie sets while studying photography at London’s Royal College of Art. In charge of tidying up the orgasmic aftermath at the end of the day’s shoot, Broughton would clean and iron sheets, pack up props, and prepare the studio for the next day.

“As a cleaner, I saw the sets in the light of day. Picking up and cleaning the mess was a bit like a crime scene”, she says. Broughton took to this unique environment and used it as the subject for her work, which saw her photographing the empty sets, props and remnants of the shoots to create her photo series ‘Empty Porn Sets’.

Voyeurism aside, there’s a strong and layered energy in Broughton’s work. The eerie and unfamiliar stillness of the deserted sets is tangible, in stark contrast to the frenetic energy involved in the use of the set. In some of the shots, remnants of the day’s work remain – a dildo, an adult magazine, a bottle of lubricant or some strappy high heels, giving the photo series a rather hilarious bend.

[Images courtesy of Jo Broughton.]