Reframing 150+ Alternative Adult Creators as Cultural Figures: Award-Winning Photographers Amelia G and Forrest Black Launch Fine Art Book on Kickstarter

The Alt Side presents fashion-lit portraits of performers and creators, documenting self-authored identity in the adult industry across three years of media conventions in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, Sept. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Award-winning photographers Amelia G and Forrest Black have launched a Kickstarter campaign for The Alt Side: portraits of alternative style at porn expos, a 172-page hardcover coffee table book of fine art photography featuring more than 150 studio portraits of adult performers and creators photographed under fashion-editorial lighting at major adult industry conventions.

Over three years, Amelia G and Forrest Black set up a pop-up, fashion-lit portrait studio at adult industry shows in Las Vegas, carving out what they describe as a hundred square feet of stillness in the middle of the convention floor. Into that space, they invited some of the most famous and stylish performers, creators, and friends whose personal aesthetics span goth, punk, cosplay, tattoo culture, neon hair, body modification, and gender play. Every subject is dressed in what they chose to wear. The images are lit and composed like high-end fashion editorials, focused on identity rather than industry.

The subjects of The Alt Side are known for one kind of work, but this book presents them in another context. At a time when social media algorithms flatten and limit how these creators can present themselves publicly, this book serves as a permanent, uncensored record of their unique identities. The elements of their self-authored style become visual language in these portraits, captured with the respect and production quality typically reserved for mainstream fashion photography.

"Every generation creates its own canon of icons, often outside traditional institutions that archive culture," says Amelia G. "This book immortalizes a living canon of alt adult creators whose influence on aesthetics, sexuality, and selfhood is real, even if museums and other institutions are slow to notice."

About the Creators

Amelia G is an award-winning photographer, writer, and editor whose work has appeared in publications from Rolling Stone to Playboy. She holds a Masters degree from the University of Michigan and a BA from Wesleyan University, bringing the academic rigor of social anthropology to the subcultures she embeds in. She founded Blue Blood magazine in 1992, pioneering counterculture erotica that challenged the conformity of mainstream adult publishing in lighting, composition, body types, and gender presentations. She is an AltStar Hall of Famer and a GFY Hall of Famer. Her previous portrait monograph with Forrest Black, California Deathrock, documented the California deathrock scene over a period of fifteen years.

Forrest Black is an award-winning photographer, designer, and tech innovator whose early design work was covered by MTV and PRINT Magazine and influenced the structure of what eventually became blogs. His design skills have been tapped by bands ranging from the Dandy Warhols to the Beastie Boys to Everclear. He has served as creative director on every book and every site Blue Blood has produced. He is an AltStar Hall of Famer.

Together, Amelia G and Forrest Black have chronicled where individuality and subculture intersect for more than thirty years, producing thousands of pages of editorial across print and digital media.

Media Assets

High-resolution cover image and select portraits available for editorial use at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19jQrLQzjlQhhdaUdBnD2g0AMt9J97IuY?usp=drive_link 

Additional photos available upon request, including at print resolution. All images credited to Amelia G and Forrest Black.

Media Contact: Octavia
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (805) 836-2899‬
Website: https://thealtside.com
Press kit and high-resolution images: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19jQrLQzjlQhhdaUdBnD2g0AMt9J97IuY?usp=drive_link 

SOURCE The Alt Side