Our Guerilla Photoshoot Inside a Model Home

I still can’t believe we didn’t get caught

My friend and I in the bed in a model home, 1997ish. All photos are the author’s photos.

Growing up as a devout evangelical, I followed every rule to stay on God’s good side.

Turns out, without drinking, smoking, having sex, watching R-rated movies, cussing, gossiping, or otherwise sinning, you have to get creative to fulfill natural rebellious teen impulses.

My friends and I scouted cute boys at the Antelope Valley Mall, performed impromptu dances inside Carl’s Jr., and sang along to KIIS 97.7FM on the car radio in the Wal-Mart parking lot.

Eventually, those activities lost their sheen.

One day, an idea materialized in my PG-rated mind: let’s check out a model home in the new housing tract.

I drove my friends James, Dana, and Jessica to a half-built neighborhood in West Lancaster.

Four model homes lined up on the street, so we decided to visit the model furthest from the office.

Reconnaissance revealed that at certain times of the afternoon, hardly any people visited this particular model home. The house actually stood empty for relatively long periods of time.

Armed with this knowledge, the four of us got dressed up, put a new roll of film into a 35mm camera, and then casually walked…