Ohio’s capital city, long known as a test market because of its all-American population and middle-class values, now has a new distinction: It was the first city in the United States to host a Canadian-based expo celebrating ‘what makes the world go ‘round’. It was chosen over every other city in the Lower 48 because of its liberal values, according to the show’s management. (You knew something like this was gonna happen when they opened that strip joint back in the ‘70s, right?) That, and because Columbus has been named one of the three most sexually active cities in America for the past 3 years.

To adequately describe the ambiance and such, this reporter is going to have to dismantle the ‘4th wall’ and tell you about it from a first-person POV.

I honestly didn’t know what to expect. I checked their web site to get a few of the low-level mechanical details but intentionally diverted my eyes from the meat of the subject because I wanted to walk into this thing cold – soak it all in when I walked through the door and not a minute sooner.

Jeff Glasser isn’t what the industry would consider a ‘normal’ photographer. He avoids the lucrative weddings and high school senior pictures, preferring to hack a path through an artistic jungle less traveled. His ‘Nightwing Photo’ site is loaded with pictures of bodybuilders, bands, and what he calls ‘other creatures of the night’. And tucked away in the middle of the Portfolio section is a line labeled ‘40+’: glamour pictures of women with wrinkles.

Who would even want to see such a thing, and where does one find them?

The answer to the second part lies in a web site called Model Mayhem, a popular site for professional and would-be models (and photographers). It was on this site where he ran across a forum thread:

“Some of us on the ‘senior circuit’ were talking about how mature models were being passed over for assignments in favor of younger women, even though they still looked great. One thing led to another, and we ended up self-publishing a book in 2008.”

He’s proud to point out that the first two pictures in the content portion of the book are his.

The book, called “Project 40+: Mature & Sexy,” sold at least five times as many copies as there were contributors. Stoked by their success, the usual suspects decided to do it again in 2009. In order to outdo himself, and to photograph fresh faces and fresh places, he accepted the invitation of a friend in Florida to travel to the Sunshine State. Glasser says his wife ‘very graciously’ let him ‘frolic on the beach with strange women’. He photographed nine models during his 13-day junket throughout Florida.