British photographer Phillip Toledano, 46, shot and interviewed 26 of these men and women, offering a look inside their homes along with some of their stories and perspectives on the industry.
Phillip, who currently lives in New York, recently discussed his inspiration for the fascinating series, which appears in his photography book, Phonesex, with the Huffington Post.
'There is a contract that exists between phone sex operators and the people who call,' he explained. 'It is a contract of self-delusion. The caller agrees to pretend that he (or she) is calling a young, beautiful girl, and the phone sex operator willingly plays the part.'
He told the Huffington Post that he came up with the idea for the photo series after creating a similar illusion himself. When his mother died, Philip began caring for his father, who has Alzheimer's. Because his father suffers from memory loss, he would often ask where Philip's mother was. Instead of having to give him the awful news that she had died over and over again, he began telling him that she was on vacation in Paris.
'My father and I kind of lived in this illusion that I had created and we participated in that lie together, he said.
In his photo series, Philip obliterates that illusion. The phone sex operators are shot at home, going about their daily lives. None of their homes are luxurious, and many are messy. Some have kids. Others have pets.
In most cases, operators are unlikely to look the way their customers picture them to be. A few are fit but others are heavy. They are both old and young. One woman he shot is even in a wheelchair.
And their stories can be surprising, too. While some described strange, funny, and even disgusting phone calls, others admit they've learned a lot by working in their industry, including how to listen to people 'in a deeper way'.
Learning experience: Photographer Phillip Toledano shot phone sex operators like Andrea in their homes. Andrea described how eye-opening it was to get into phone sex, saying: 'Tuning into men's voices, instead of getting caught up on their looks, was the same as a person suddenly going blind, only to find their other senses enhanced. I learned to listen to men in a deeper way. My job behooved me to reach beyond the little mind games, straight into their pants and grasp them by the balls. I think if all women did phone sex before they lost their virginity, they would make much better choices'
Roleplay: 'I have a naturally high voice. I'm also immature and submissive. The voice I use on the phone is somewhat a representation of those qualities. There's one specific voice tone I use when pretending to be sexually aroused. Imagine a Catholic school girl getting de-virginized by her history teacher,' said this woman
Serving her customers: Quince never thought she would work in the phone sex industry - though she did work with phones for a long time. As a customer service rep, customers would always comment on her 'sexy voice'. She said: 'I thought I was being professional, not sexy. [Phone sex] work is customer service. It's just your customers leave with more than a smile'
Guy time: Derek has fun at his job and is a master at creating sound effects. To make it sound like a bed rocking, for example, he might knocking the headboard against the wall or knock a chair against a table. 'Some clients like to hear the sound of your d*** slapping against the phone. This can be done by actually slapping the d*** against the phone, or tapping your two fingers against the mouthpiece,' he said. He also has sounds effects to simulate oral sex, explaining: 'A juicy peach makes the best sound effect ever'
Fantasy girl: Ariel said: 'To the caller, when I first answer, I am the inanimate Barbie. They do not know what I look like, who I am or how I feel. They can only imagine. It is my job to indulge their fantasies, to convince them that I am not a doll. I am their dream turned real. I view every question the caller asks me as a command for me to transform. If they ask if I am blonde, I become a blonde... I respond to every sound the caller makes with an affirmation, I encourage them, I breathe life into the fantasy, I carve the doll out of flesh'
Strong connection: Robin said she gets a lot of weird calls, but the ones she remembers most are from people who 'touched my heart'. She said: 'There was Jonny in Boston. He and his wife were trying to get pregnant. He was calling from a fertility clinic because the magazines he was given weren't working for him. He ended up calling regularly even after his daughter was born'
A peek inside: Temma said that she got into phone sex because she thought, 'Why not get paid for talking dirty, instead of doing it for free?' She explained that it gives her a self-esteem boost to know that guys are looking at her photos and want to talk to her. She also likes to fulfill their fantasies and paint pictures in their minds
Going the extra mile: Trenall said one of her most memorable calls came from someone with a feces fetish, for which she played right along - and then some: 'I cracked him up. He was laughing so hard, he had to hang up because he couldn't get back into our fantasy'
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