Meet erotic photographer & videographer: Layla Kosima

Since quitting her ‘normie job’ to work full time behind the scenes filming and shooting adult content, Layla Kosima hasn’t looked back.

Layla is the founder of female-led porn company, Girls on Set. Her erotic photography has taken the industry by storm with surreal imagery that captures sex appeal in new born and beguiling ways. We had a catch up to hear about her trailblazing journey in an industry largely dominated by men.

Could you introduce yourself and what you do?

I’m Layla (She/Her), founder of porn production Girls On Set, a freelance creative and most importantly a full-time slut.

When did you first get started with exploring erotic photography?

I started taking erotic photographs during university for my photography course. My peers and lecturers did not understand my work but I always felt like I’m on an important mission of being true to myself and standing up for what I believe in.

I’ve always carried that mindset with me and it has closed many doors for me within professional photography. But for every opportunity I never got, I just felt more connected to porn and erotic photography.

How has taking self-portraits and making videos of yourself impacted your sexuality?

I used to be timid and adhered to patriarchal expectations of me, I was a good girl, but I was unhappy and always craved men’s approval. Whilst I do believe the latter was the reason I started taking sexual self-portraits, none of those factors impact my decisions to do so today.

Over the years I have become a confident, strong-willed woman because I worked a lot on myself. Being open about my sexuality has played a large factor in my confidence today as I don’t feel like I need to hide any part of myself from anyone.

This change has impacted my sexuality as I only have sex with people I genuinely want to. I am also much better at communicating my sexual needs as that is something I now know I deserve.

Tell us about your journey into this world?

I started as a performer myself, but as with most people, the beginning was very slow. Coming from a working-class background and working full-time creatively, I always ended up stopping porn (of myself) and getting full-time minimum wage jobs on top of my creative one, as I couldn’t risk the unstable income.

I have never had a problem sharing my kink life and sexual videos online so I didn’t need help in making the decision. It felt natural and sexy and I needed money. I never really cared about the stigma that comes along with it but struggled with making a good amount of money from it because I could not dedicate enough time to it. Eventually, I tried shooting others in my spare time, and I quickly realised I was much more talented behind the camera.

What inspired you to start Girls On Set?

The idea of Girls On Set has been swooning in my mind for years. I made up my mind to go ahead when I went to the XBIZ industry event in Amsterdam. I was intrigued to meet people from the industry and get myself out there professionally as a photographer. I was shocked when I attended panels and found out that the male producers, working for the biggest production companies, did not understand basic consent.

After the social events, the men working in the industry would harass and bother the performers I was hanging out with. I also felt disrespected and not taken seriously at all during my weekend there. The trip left an uneasy feeling in me, everything I had heard and expected from the industry was true.

Many performers also reached out to me and asked if I also do videography because they want to work with me. So I decided to create an alternative option to these big production companies and created Girls On Set.

I don’t believe that the porn industry is inherently evil, or that I have all of the answers, but I do believe that there is a lot of room for improvement, and for me, it starts with Girls On Set.

What are some of the weirdest messages(s) you’ve received online relating to sex work?

I’ve received a lot of strange messages when I was a performer. Recently the messages coming in are more about if I sell videos of myself on top of the videos I’m producing. I should monetise that!

Do you think it’s harder for women vs men to create in the erotic world?

I’m privileged because a lot of performers put their trust in me, and whilst I believe it is mostly because of my character and reputation, the fact that I am a woman plays a part in that. From my experience, most men get into this work for their own sexual gratification and performers are aware and cautious of that. Having said that though, there’s a real lack of women who are behind the camera in this industry, so a lot of women will end up working with questionable men.

The feminist porn producer Paulita Pappel says, “Pornography is a medium that can be used for feminist practice.” And I believe that is true. It is everybody’s responsibility on set and beyond to make an impact. I urge anybody in the industry to question themselves what their
intentions are.

If you go into porn because you want to improve the standards within the industry, you want to create safer spaces for performers without thinking about your pleasure, I believe you’re on the right path.

Do you think younger people have a different reaction to making porn than the older generations?

I have to admit that I feel like my perception of this is warped because I enjoy my peace and therefore only surround myself with people whom are sex work friendly. I have created a safe world for myself that I do not like to leave most of the time. These people empower me
and that gives me a lot of confidence in who I am.

However, from my experience, with porn being far more accessible than ever, younger generations have been growing up surrounded by sex in a way that older generations were not, especially as the medium of viewing porn is now interactive in a way it never used to be. There are those from every generation who will judge the choices of others, especially on social media platforms, but I also think porn is viewed as something less shameful and is more openly discussed by younger generations.

It can be hard to see the reality at times but I do try to ground myself as it fuels my desire to keep working against that stigma. It is important to remember that this stigma threatens people’s lives. Real people that are offering a crucial and respectable service.

What’s the future for Girls On Set?

The goal is to create an independent, monthly subscription site that’s not reliant on big sites that lack security and grow the team. I would love to meet more like-minded women and non-binary individuals who would like to get creatively involved with Girls On Set. I do want to add that this year I am also (hopefully) going to learn more directly from my idol feminist producers Vex Ashley, Paulita Pappel and Bea Blue and grow my connections with women who inspire me in the industry.

If you have one piece of advice for women who are thinking about expressing themselves sexually online what would you say?

Use an alias from the beginning, accept that anybody can find your images (including family!), create a support network of like-minded people, and don’t get too caught up about your body looking ‘perfect’… And good lighting 😉

Discover more about Layla Kosima.

Read: 6 superb erotic photography series by women.

Drew

Author

Drew, aka Wise and Manly is a sexuality coach helping people to love themselves. As a bisexual man, he makes content about owning and embracing your sexuality as well as accepting your authentic self.

Layla Kosima

Author

Layla Kosima is a erotic photographer, videographer and founder of female-led porn company, Girls on Set. She is known for her atmospheric photoshoots that give eroticism a dream-like quality.