So much of commerce now is blind: online shopping, tech-support in Bangalore. We hope there is a person at the other end of the transaction, but it could be a machine; often the machine doesn’t seem very well programmed. The phone-sex industry, though, thrives on being faceless and intensely personal at the same time. Phillip Toledano’s new book Phone Sex (July 2008, Twin Palms) takes us into the boudoirs of nearly 30 phone-sex operators so we see their faces and also hear their stories—each operator gives his or her take on the business.

We intervied Phillip Toledano who lives and works in New York City. All photos © Phillip Toledano, courtesy of the artist, all rights reserved.

So how did the series begin?I’d been thinking about the things in society that are in plain sight, but still remain hidden.

What surprises appeared?

How many [of these] people really loved what they did, and for so many reasons: because they felt they were helping people; because they had discovered things about themselves, sexually or otherwise; because it was often a two-way street. Also, how much imagination you need to be a good operator, and how good you have to be at figuring out what someone wants. And finally, how it’s a job that reaches across the entire socio-economic strata.

How did the operators respond to you coming into their workspaces (which, presumably, are fairly intimate zones)?

They were fine with it. We’d spent several weeks emailing beforehand, so I wasn’t a completely unknown quantity. Plus, I always mentioned that if they wanted to have someone there, that was completely OK.

Any desire to make portraits of those who call phone-sex lines?

No, that’s it for phone sex for me.

Do you think men would pay money to talk to woman if they knew how they really looked?

I think most of these guys would screw a tree if it stood still long enough.

What do you think of the woman who do this for a living?

I think they are warm souls, imagine doing that for money, you have to be really lonely, or have a great sence of humor about your self to listen to what they must hear in a days time.

Could you fall in love with a girl like that?

Ya know I could, they are really human, very little girl like in side, and yet, brash, and erotic, great imaginations.

Do you think the book will sell?

Not A Clue!

What was the best story they told you?

One guy had multiple personalities, he wanted to talk to two girls one fore each personality.

 When does it go on sale?

July.

The book is an amazing and funny accout of the lives of those who hide in the shadows of life, unseen except in the mind of the caller, his onw ideas, his own image, we can only wonder if the photos above are what he had in mind.