Joe Swanberg has a new web series called The Stagg Party, which premiered this past Monday on IFC.com. It’s a documentary series about commercial photographer Ellen Stagg, who also appears briefly in Swanberg’s latest feature, Nights and Weekends. The show is very much NSFW, as it focuses on Stagg’s erotic photography work and features a lot of nudity. Therefore, it’s taken a few days for me to get a clip suitable for sharing here. Fortunately the upcoming third episode, from which the clip is taken, concentrates more on Stagg’s family than on her photo shoots. Here she chats with her brother, Jared, about how they first met.
The series in general, and this clip in particular, is especially interesting to me, because I’ve known the Staggs for almost 15 years, and it’s kind of funny to see some family photos here that I’ve definitely seen before. It’s terrific that Ellen has become the subject of a series by Swanberg, whose previous web series Butterknife was presented by Spout.com. While I’ve been familiar with Ellen’s erotica photography for a long time, I’m actually learning a lot about the origins and the process of the work through this candid and humorously intimate series.
For the first two episodes, which I must remind you are NOT SAFE FOR WORK, check out the Stagg Party page at IFC, and stay tuned for Episode 3, which debuts on Monday. Also, be sure and visit Ellen Stagg’s sexy photo blog, Stagg Street — again, when you’re NOT AT WORK. Unless you work with Sasha Grey.
