Clayton James Cubitt

Cubitt grew up in New Orleans and other parts of the Gulf Coast.{{cite news|last=Berthold|first=Jessica|title=An intimate look at life after Hurricane Katrina|url=https://www.mcall.com/2005/11/04/an-intimate-look-at-life-after-hurricane-katrina/|newspaper=The Morning Call|access-date=7 October 2012}} He was inspired to explore photography after seeing the photograph "Susie Smoking," shot by Nick Knight for a Yohji Yamamoto ad campaign. Cubitt also cites Helmut Newton's photograph "Green Room Murder" as an early inspiration.{{cite journal|title=Interview with Clayton Cubitt |first=Susannah |last=Breslin |date=August 20, 2007 |journal=JPG|authorlink=Susannah Breslin|url=http://www.jpgmag.com/stories/1343 |issue=12}} He moved north after high school, eventually settling in Brooklyn in early 2000.{{cite news|last=Carrington|first=Daisy|title=Countdown to Bliss|url=http://observer.com/2005/12/countdown-to-bliss-52/|newspaper=New York Observer|accessdate=7 October 2012|date=2005-12-26}}

From 2004 to 2008, Cubitt published a photography/confessional blog titled "The Daily Siege" at sex/culture online magazine Nerve. It was described by Eyemazing Journal as "one of the best sources of intelligent, open sexuality on the web.”{{cite web|last=Maxwell|first=Clayton|title=Interview with Clayton Cubitt|url=http://operationeden.blogspot.com/2007_08_01_archive.html|publisher=Eyemazing Journal, Fall 2007|accessdate=7 October 2012|date=2007-08-29}} In addition to erotic content, including images and podcasts,{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=3&entry_id=112 |title=How to Make Your iPod Blush and Squirm |work=SFGate |publisher=San Francisco Chronicle |first=Mark |last=Morford |date=June 27, 2005 }} the blog featured Cubitt's writing on a variety of topics, including politics and his creative process.{{cite web|last=Jardin|first=Xeni|title=A day in the blog of an erotic photographer. And, China Nympho Cream.|date=26 August 2004|url=http://boingboing.net/2004/08/26/a-day-in-the-blog-of.html|publisher=BoingBoing|accessdate=6 October 2012}}

In 2005, Cubitt collaborated on a generative art fashion series with creative coder Tom Carden. To create the images, Cubitt used software that experimented with particles and attractors. The software was written by Carden using the alpha version of the Processing Programming Language, and the images were published in Metropop Magazine.{{cite web|title=Metropop Denim: Fashion Photography and Generative Artwork by Clayton Cubitt and Tom Carden|url=http://processing.org/exhibition/works/metropop/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051114013500/http://www.processing.org/exhibition/works/metropop/|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 14, 2005|publisher=Processing.org|accessdate=7 October 2012}} Cubitt is also known for "Lagos Calling", an alternate-reality fashion story that reimagined the skinhead fashion movement as a product of late-1960s Lagos, Nigeria, rather than London. The images were presented as a set of resurfaced, damaged, faded anthropological portraits.{{cite web|last=Ana|first=Finel Honigman|title=Clayton Cubitt Interview|url=http://whitehotmagazine.com/articles/april-2009-clayton-cubitt-interview/1810|publisher=Whitehot Magazine}} The series was used as stylistic inspiration for the Gnarls Barkley music video for "Going On".{{cite web|last=Jardin|first=Xeni|title=Did Gnarls Barkley's video producers "swipe" a photographer's style?|date=13 May 2008|url=http://boingboing.net/2008/05/13/did-gnarls-barkleys.html|publisher=Boing Boing|accessdate=7 October 2012}} Websites have mistakenly published the images as historical reference. Cubitt created a series called "Damaged Doll" that featured pornographic actress Justine Joli in a sexual, high-fashion context. Two of the images were included in The Playground, a collectible boxed set of fashion artwork. Two different printers refused to print the pieces due to their explicit nature, so the book publishers printed them manually. However, Barney's New York refused to stock the boxed set due to the inclusion of the two pieces.

In 2005, Cubitt traveled to Pearlington, Mississippi, ground zero for Hurricane Katrina,{{cite web|title=South Hancock Elementary: Two Communities, One Recovery|url=http://www.fema.gov/news-release/south-hancock-elementary-two-communities-one-recovery|publisher=FEMA}} after hearing that his mother's home there had been destroyed. Upon arriving, Cubitt began to document the area's devastation. He set up a photography studio in order to interview and photograph Katrina's survivors and volunteers in Pearlington's former school gymnasium, which was serving as a distribution point for aid in the town. Cubitt published their stories and images on a blog he created, titled "Operation Eden." For a time, the blog became a central hub for volunteers and people seeking to send relief, and citizens who were curious about what the mainstream media wasn't covering. The blog has been described as "a powerful piece of citizen journalism." It was featured on MSNBC, LIFE Magazine, and Rolling Stone. Cubitt returned to the area subsequently to photograph survivors in Mississippi and New Orleans. His Katrina portraits were used by ad agency Grey Worldwide, in conjunction with SAMHSA and the Ad Council, to create a series of PSAs urging Katrina survivors to reach out for help.{{cite web|last=Jardin|first=Xeni|title=Katrina: public service announcement|date=30 August 2006|url=http://boingboing.net/2006/08/30/katrina-public-servi.html|publisher=BoingBoing|accessdate=7 October 2012}}

Cubitt's celebrity portrait subjects include David Byrne{{cite magazine|last=Maloney|first=Devon|title=David Byrne and Will Oldham Pick Extremely Self-Deprecating Band Name|url=https://www.spin.com/2012/04/david-byrne-and-will-oldham-pick-extremely-self-deprecating-band-name/|magazine=SPIN Magazine|accessdate=7 October 2012|date=2012-04-03}}

, Peter Murphy, Xeni Jardin,{{cite web|title=THE WIRE 50: The Most Influential People In Media This Year|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/thewire50/2011?op=1|website=Business Insider|accessdate=7 October 2012}} Levon Helm,{{cite magazine|title=Levon Helm Has His Day in Woodstock|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/levon-helm-has-his-day-in-woodstock-20060524|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130202114040/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/levon-helm-has-his-day-in-woodstock-20060524|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 2, 2013|magazine=Rolling Stone|accessdate=7 October 2012}} Shaun Ross, Big Freedia, Justine Joli, and Molly Crabapple.{{cite web|last=Vandervliet|first=David|title=A Week in Hell with Molly Crabapple|url=http://www.comicbooked.com/a-week-in-hell-with-molly-crabapple/|publisher=Comic Booked|accessdate=7 October 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130120044705/http://www.comicbooked.com/a-week-in-hell-with-molly-crabapple/|archive-date=20 January 2013|url-status=dead}} Cubitt is credited for initially discovering underground South African rap-rave group Die Antwoord,{{cite web|last=Griffin|title=Interview: Clayton Cubitt|url=http://www.watkykjy.co.za/2010/09/interview-clayton-cubitt/|publisher=Wat Kyk Jy?|accessdate=7 October 2012}} and subsequently shot their portrait{{cite web|title=A photo of Die Antwoord by Clayton Cuitt|url=http://www.mtv.com/artists/die-antwoord/photos/p75669hhv7k/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141128121736/http://www.mtv.com/artists/die-antwoord/photos/p75669hhv7k/|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 28, 2014|publisher=MTV.com|accessdate=7 October 2012}} and album cover for the band's debut$, O$.{{cite web|last=Bonner|first=Sean|title=Die Antwoord $O$ album cover revealed|date=10 September 2010|url=http://boingboing.net/2010/09/10/die-antwoord-o-cover.html|publisher=BoingBoing|accessdate=7 October 2012}}

In 2008–2009, Cubitt created a video series of Long Portraits, in which subjects were filmed sitting still for five minutes or more.{{cite news|last=Clark-Flory|first=Tracy|title=Turning orgasm into art|url=http://www.salon.com/2012/08/24/turning_orgasm_into_art/|work=Salon.com|accessdate=7 October 2012|date=2012-08-24}} The Long Portrait format became popular on Vimeo, inspiring many other photographers to create their own versions.{{cite web|last=Stephen|first=Niebauer|title=Staff Blog / Weekend Project: The Long Portrait|url=http://vimeo.com/blog/post:222|publisher=Vimeo|access-date=2012-10-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140224113211/http://vimeo.com/blog/post:222|archive-date=2014-02-24|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|last=Damian|first=Rosellen|title=The Children of Clayton Cubitt|url=http://www.damianrosellen.com/2009/08/children-of-clayton-james-cubitt.html|website=damianrosellen.com|access-date=2012-10-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091021213332/http://www.damianrosellen.com/2009/08/children-of-clayton-james-cubitt.html|archive-date=2009-10-21|url-status=dead}}

In 2012, Cubitt created a video series entitled Hysterical Literature. Shot clinically in black and white, each film shows a fully dressed woman reading a passage from a book of her choice while supposedly being brought to orgasm by an unseen assistant.{{cite news|title=Hysterical Literature: Behind Clayton Cubitt’s Erotic Series|url=http://www.dailydot.com/society/hysterical-literature-clayton-cubitt-interview/|work=Daily Dot|accessdate=7 October 2012|date=2012-08-27}} The first installment in the video series featured adult performer Stoya reading Necrophilia Variations by Supervert, and has received over twenty-three million views on YouTube as of May 2018.{{cite web|title=Hysterical Literature: Stoya|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQuT-Xfyk3o|accessdate=27 June 2013}} Subsequent videos feature "friends and industry comrades" like Margaret Cho, Toni Bentley and others {{cite magazine|last=Galperina|first=Marina|title=A Short Survey of Sexy Contemporary Photographers|url=http://www.flavorwire.com/326526/a-short-survey-of-sexy-contemporary-photographers-nsfw?all=1|magazine=Flavorwire|date=2012-09-12}} reading passages from books including Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho{{cite news|title=Hysterical Literature, Clayton Cubitt's erotic YouTube series, hits a new peak|url=http://www.dailydot.com/culture/hysterical-literature-stormy-american-psycho/|work=Daily Dot|accessdate=7 October 2012|date=2012-09-27}} and Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass.

In 2016, Cubitt became a vocal supporter of senator Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign.{{Cite web|url=http://boingboing.net/2016/04/19/powerful-photographic-portrait.html|title=Powerful photographic portraits of Veterans For Bernie Sanders|date=2016-04-19|website=Boing Boing|access-date=2017-02-10}} Cubitt photographed war veterans and interviewed them about what Sanders' candidacy means to them. The images were used by the official Bernie Sanders campaign.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/gallery/2016/apr/19/bernie-sanders-military-veterans-voters-clayton-cubitt-photographs-gallery|title=#Vets4Bernie: veterans speak out in support of Bernie Sanders – in pictures|last=Cubitt|first=Clayton|date=2016-04-19|journal=The Guardian|access-date=2017-02-10}}

Group Shows

• 2003 SENT: America's First Phonecam Art Show, Los Angeles, CA
• 2008 Anonymous, New York, NY
• 2008 (Untitled) u = ____, New York, NY
• 2009 Talk Dirty to Me, New York, NY
• 2011 Fashioning Photography, Essex Junction, VT
• 2012 LEWD, New York, NY

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://claytoncubitt.com/ Cubitt's site]
• [http://operationeden.blogspot.com/ Operation Eden]
• [http://claytoncubitt.tumblr.com/ Clayton Cubitt Every Day], Cubitt's tumblelog

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Category:Living people

Category:American photographers

Category:1972 births