Annie Sprinkle (Patreon)

This article was originally published in Nodal Points Issue 1. 

It’s difficult to think of piercing as a transgressive act anymore. What was once a kink shared by Leather men, swingers, and assorted eccentrics has hit the mainstream, with piercing not only no longer the mark of rebellion but an almost ubiquitous accessory for just about every subculture and age group.

​The same can’t be said for piercing in the early 1980s; as mentioned above, having a ring in your nipple, labia, or penis was a strong statement. Especially in the world of adult films/magazines, where producers dealt in archetype- the perky blonde, the wild redhead- even in a transgressive medium there was a uniformity that wasn’t always accepting of anything outside of the mainstream.

Annie Sprinkle, thankfully, was never much for playing by the rules. In her 1981 eponymous feature Deep Inside Annie Sprinkle, she not only ignored cinema’s fourth wall rule, directly addressing the camera, but also broke industry norms by showing real family photographs and casually sharing her “real” name with viewers. That’s a pretty big deal, and while the word iconoclast- a person who attacks cherished beliefs or institutions- is often used incorrectly, I think that it suits Annie to a T.

It’s no wonder that after seeing Fakir Musafar in PFIQ #2, Annie was motivated to write him a letter, starting a correspondence that would initiate Fakir’s 1982 visit to the Big Apple to get to know his penpal in person. This visit nicely fits our nodal framework- with Annie and Fakir both documenting the week and a half trip, Fakir in PFIQ and Annie in Velvet Talks, and the introduction of Fakir to photo-anthropologist Charles Gatewood, who’s relationship with him would lead to the publication of RESearch’s Modern Primitives.

​In an era where piercing documentation was rare, co-documentation was practically unheard of; when read together each of the parts form a cohesive whole, painting a picture of swinging NYC nightlife with porn stars, celebrities and eccentrics going out for a night of debauchery at the Hellfire Club, and more importantly, of two very genuine people making a connection that would last a lifetime.

​To climax an exciting and action-packed journey, Annie arranged a fantastic “Farewell Fakir” party for my last night in Manhattan. It was a curious collection of people, publishers, photographers, artists, writers, porn stars, prostitutes, the sedate lady from across the hall, tattoo artists and piercing fans like “Ron” and “Jim A” (PFIQ No. 11). About 45 people in all who had practically nothing in common. And that makes the best kind of party. Everybody let their hair down, even the sedate lady from across the hall. She got very wild and excited every time I pierced a guy’s nipples!

-PFIQ #12

​​Fakir pierced Annie’s labia at the party, and for the main event, Annie pierced and installed a shiny gold ring in Fakir’s foreskin, all under the watchful camera of Gatewood, whose photos illustrated Annie's Velvet Talks (June 1982) article, copies of which can occasionally be found on internet auction sites.

In the years since their meeting, Annie has gone on to be an internationally renowned photographer, writer, performance artist, and film producer. In 1986 she received a BFA in photography from the School of Visual Arts and, in 1992, earned a doctorate in Human Sexuality from the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality.

​Fakir Musafar published Body Play and Modern Primitives Quarterly from 1992-1999, released a book of his collected photography Spirit + Flesh in 2002, and with a staff made up of talented piercers and proteges, trained countless piercers through his Fakir Intensives.

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Fakir Musafar:
August 10, 1930- August 1, 2018

Photo © Charles Gatewood, scanned from original silver gelatin print.