Finding the beauty in brick and mortar

Photographer Michael Borowski details his journey capturing adult storefronts in America and how it grew from a place of comfort.

(NOTE: This story appears in the June 2025 issue of SE Magazine.)

When you ask photographer Michael Borowski why he began photographing adult retail stores throughout the U.S., he won’t say he was attempting to make a statement piece — he’ll simply tell you he was just a guy looking for a bit of comfort. As a progressive queer man who moved from a big city to a small conservative town in 2014, Borowski found that comfort in the sight of a local adult retail store. It reminded him of the diversity he often associated with his hometown of Albuquerque, NM.

It began that same year in Chippewa Falls, WI, when he drove past a neon pink sign that read ‘Pure Pleasure’ around sunset. The glow of the sign against the fading light of dusk stunned him. While adult retail stores aren’t typically known for their visual appeal, Borowski was moved by what he saw. He returned later to capture the same scene and was hooked. Intrigued, he began seeking out and photographing more of these brick-and-mortar stores.

“I am drawn to beauty in places where we don’t expect to find it,” says Borowski, speaking exclusively with SE.

“If I see something beautiful, I don’t usually photograph it. However, if I feel some internal conflict, like coming across something strange, yet beautiful, I feel I have the potential for a creative project.”

Since he was on the road often, he decided to use the opportunity to gradually add to the project. Titled “Small Town Sex Shops,” it includes images from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Virginia and several Southern states.

“Whenever I had a long drive, I would look for adult retail stores along my route and stop to photograph them,” he explains. “I only photographed the exteriors, so I didn’t end up talking to the owners.”

A recurring theme he noticed was the heightened tension between these retailers and their community. When shops were located in business districts, they often became flashpoints.

“There was one shop located in the downtown area where I lived, and it often sparked debate about the shop’s value to the community,” he says.

While adult retail stores are often met with stigma in small rural towns, Borowski, 43, believes they serve an important educational and social role. He sees them not only as businesses, but also as spaces where people can safely explore desires and learn about sexuality.

“I was primarily photographing stores outside major urban areas, their locations offered privacy, but that may also reflect some discomfort or shame about sexuality, ” Borowski shares.

I became curious about how these retailers stayed competitive with online businesses, ultimately, I wanted to emphasize their existence rather than their decline.

— Michael Borowski

Some stores were located just off the freeway, easy to access. Others were tucked away in the town’s crevices and backroads. Regardless of where they stood, each had its own personality. Some storefronts were bold and electric, others more romantic or fantasy-driven. It even surprised Borowski how different some stores looked even when they were part of the same retail chain.

He often came across stores that had gone under and been boarded up, but made it a point not to photograph them.

“I became curious about how these retailers stayed competitive with online businesses,” Borowski says

“Ultimately, I wanted to emphasize their existence rather than their decline.”

Adult retail stores are not the only victims of online competition. The term “retail apocalypse” refers to the widespread wave of retail store closures and bankruptcies triggered by the dominance of online shopping. To avoid being invasive, Borowski often avoided photographing people or cars.

“I could have gone deeper with the project if I had interviewed staff or customers,” says the Albuquerque native. “I was just nervous about invading their privacy.”

Now a photography professor at Virginia Tech, Borowski says the first image he took, Pure Pleasure in Chippewa Falls, still stands as his favorite. As he reflects on the project, he admits to chasing the look and feel of that initial photograph and what began as an open-ended exploration gradually lost momentum. Since 2020, he’s taken fewer road trips, and when he does travel, it’s often to places he’s already captured.

“The project is paused for now,” he says. “It might be finished.”

For more information, visit michaelborowski.com