Category: ultragay

Mapplethorpe and friends

Robert Mapplethorpe and friends

Robert Mapplethorpe and friends hang out in the West Village in 1978, as caught on film by amateur photographer Leonard Fink. Part of a set of images Fink captured of men at rest and at play around the West Village in the late ’70s, featured in the most recent issue of Pink Mince.

And let me be shameless here for a moment: please try an issue of Pink Mince, whether it’s this recent one or one of the back issues. Each is a stand-alone exploration of theme. I’m very proud of the work by so many talented people I’ve been able to gather for each issue, but the whole project is a drain on my resources and every little bit of support will help keep it going.

FAQNP #3: A Queer Nerd Travel Guide

FAQNP #3

I contributed an article to the zine FAQNP for its third issue, “A Queer Nerd Travel Guide”. My photo feature, “A Type Nerd’s Time in India”, is a look at how well (or for the most part, how badly) a variety of western brands like Citibank and McDonald’s carry through their typographic branding when they use the local scripts in different Indian cities.

Spread from FAQNP #3

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Opulence! You own everything!

For a while now, I’ve been joining some pals for a monthly movie night and last night we had a selection of mine, the 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning. Every time I come back to this film, I love it just as much as the first time, and it strikes me as more and more poignant as time goes on. It captures a moment, but the further we get from that moment it’s easy to see how much of an impact the whole ball culture has had as it leaked out into pop culture at large. As well-received as this was at the time, its success was a bit of a bitter pill for the subjects of the story, who weren’t able to share in as much of that success as they thought they would. Time has secured a legend for them outside the world of the balls, but the outcome only reinforces what many of them say in the film about their lot in life.

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