Way, way before SuicideGirls was spawned, legendary NY photographer Richard Kern was shooting punk rock and fetish girls in their apartments -- naked, tied up, tied down, posing with guns, with candles up their asses and so on.

Does Kern really need an intro to people on this site? A vanguard of the Cinema of Transgression movement, he produced a number of films with such underground figures as Lydia Lunch and Kembra Pfahler, as well as directing video clips for Sonic Youth, Marilyn Manson and the like.

Ditching motion for stills, and changing his direction to opt for subtlety while simultaneously upping the ante on intimacy, he is currently one of the world's most respected, and loved fashion/art photographers, having contributed to the likes of Purple,Nylon, Index, i-D, (Not only) Black and White, amongst countless others. He has also released nine highly acclaimed anthologies.

Back in the day you could have seen his work in a number of illustrious publications such as Barely Legal, Juggs and Leg World, and the accumulated efforts of his pornographic forays can be seen at newnudecity.

Check out his latest book, Action, which includes content mostly from his former porn shoots from '97-2002 ... "big dildos, a few dicks, pissing etc." I'm actually having trouble getting it where I live because, rumour has it, the usual outlets here actually can't stock it (which is, if you have been to a Japanese book store, truly saying something.) You can see a clip of what Kern has to say about it on the Taschen site.