It turns out that the popular photo sharing app Snapchat is not all “cute” dog face filters, or even the latest avenue for product placement; rather it has been revealed the app has a decidedly more NSFW alternative use.
Los Angeles based Australian artist Jesse Willesee has created Premium, a mini-documentary investigating the world of Snapchat Premium and it’s associated payment service Snapcash. The “film”, is being touted as the first to be shot entirely on iPhone. The mini doco was all edited in-camera, and has since been released exclusively on Instagram.
The social media platform Snapchat is one that you’ll probably find on most people’s phones these days (at least of a certain age), but according to the documentary more and more young men and women are turning to the app to earn money, and quite a bit of it, posting nude images and sexy videos.
Premium follows Hannah, a 19-year-old college student, who incidentally is also Willesee’s girlfriend. Hannah uses the app as her main source of income, after she lost her low paying fast food job. According to the documentary Hannah is now earning approximately a hundred dollars an hour posing for photos; and thanks to payment apps getting paid instantly, without having to leave home or having to post anything she isn’t comfortable with.
Willesee describes himself as a “sex positive” artist, with no moral objections to Hannah’s line of work. The documentary is instead focused on the appeal of this particular Snapchat feature to young men and women.
“It’s an app most people already have on their phone. You can take these photos or make these videos almost anywhere and start earning money instantly,” Willesee explains. “It’s easy to see how so many people are tempted to try it”.
The mini-documentary then to a degree highlights the somewhat sad fact that in our current global economy, it’s become easier and quicker to earn money, and a lot of it, by posing for explicit photos than it is to get a part time or well paying job. All you need to do is overlook potential judgment from those that still view the making of money from nudes as pornography.
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Premium can be viewed via Jesse Willesee’s Instagram account HERE
Header image taken by Jesse Willesee
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