Subject: Peepers and your thoughts on them

“Hi Bob,

This isn’t fan mail or hate mail, just a legitimate inquiry I had after reading the page on peepers on your site.

I’m curious to know what your reaction is to finding and documenting peepers. Was the purpose just “for fun” and curiosity about these people, or did you ultimately want the press and the public to be alerted to what was happening? How did you feel (like morally) when you first found out about their existence? I know you’ve gotten some hate mail telling you that you are just as bad for peeping on the peepers, and that the women they’re peeping on “like it”, or that if they didn’t want to be peeped on they shouldn’t wear skirts/dresses. It’s all complete horse shit to me, and I’m glad you exposed them. I’m sure they’re not just limited to peeping at Union Square so thanks for basically telling the world to be on the lookout for them, whether you intended it or not.

I guess this kinda turned into fan mail, sorry for lying.

Keep up the good work,

T.”

Very good question Mr. T!

I’m actually surprised it took this long for someone to ask. I’m happy to give you a full explanation to clear up any confusion anyone might have.

My documenting of the Peepers was a gradual process. It started with this guy I actually named “Peepers” at Union Square, NYC. He was a short pudgy man with greasy slicked back hair who came to the park regularly to peep. And he peeped heavy. He would sit on the step in front of a girl in a skirt, sometimes as near to her as sitting between her feet so she’d have to move them up closer to herself, and he’d stare at her panties while she read a book, or talked on the phone. He would also “Front Row Peep,” standing just a few feet in front of a girl sitting on the steps and loom over her until the moment became too uncomfortable to bear and she’d get up and leave. I even witnessed the man we called Peepers follow these girls out of the park. This was back in about 2004/05. And I only had a picture taking camera at that time, but I documented him as best I could.

Then, at around 2006/07 me and my friends started to notice a change in the park. More and more Peepers began to appear at Union Square, to the point where they were almost impossible to avoid if you hung out on the steps there. I would be sitting with a friend or two talking away, and there’d be a line of these men standing in front of us. We’d look to our right, where their line was pointing, and there’d be a girl in a skirt. This is what’s now known as a Peeper Train. Other times one of these men would sit down, his back pressed against my leg. I’d look to see that he wasn’t paying any attention to where he put himself because all of his concentration was focused on trying to peer up the girl’s skirt sitting down from me. They quite simply became such a ridiculous spectacle there was no avoiding making fun of them amongst friends. That then of course led to the internet – [Jeepers Creepers, Even More Peepers].

We’ve all seen girls who sit and accidentally (or not) expose themselves. It’s human nature and normal human sexuality to look. There’s nothing wrong with looking. It’s when it becomes looming, an invasion of space & privacy, and stalking, that it becomes a nuisance and joke worthy. This is exactly what happened.

The population of Peepers at Union got so out of hand that they were actually chasing girls away. Their peeping was so obvious and invasive girls were getting up and leaving, creeped out by them all. Peepers would sit in front of a girl, or stand a few feet in front of her, and hover. If the girl moved, the peeper would move too. They’d loom until the girl couldn’t take it any longer and she’d split. This is around the time when I began taping the Methods of a Peeper series. The video was specifically to illustrate the length of time spent and the aggressiveness of their peeping. Something I couldn’t depict clearly with just photos.

It’s surprised me to see people on blogs and comments under videos [VoyeurForum] accusing me of being a peeper myself, “wanking it” or being no less of a perv than the peepers. Yes, I go home to do those things. I do it in private without including the people at the park, subway train or public staircases. My precious masturbatory sessions are kept in private. That’s how I personally think it should be done if you’re a grown, sane adult. I’ve also heard people declare that filming peepers is no different, or just as creepy as peeping itself. I think this is easily judged by whether or not the peeper in question wants to hide from cameras or not. FIlm me. Post it on YouTube. I don’t mind. I’m a Peeper Peeper. I make no secret of it. It’s the category I’ve put myself under on the Union Square Matchgame Postcard which I hand out at the park. #5EE. That’s me!

And to those people who call me a prude, or compare me to preachers who condemn homosexuality and are then caught giving blowjobs in a back alley. I’m a perv. I relate to peepers. I understand the feeling of wanting to stare unrestrained at beautiful women. My feeling however is that unrestrained staring is creepy, so I choose to contain that urge for dignity’s sake. I make a conscious decision to present myself to the world differently than the way a Peeper would. And it is because I can relate to Peepers on this level, and their opposing views on dignity & self presentation that I find it so worth documenting at such great length.

Thank you for your questions.

Bob