Although sparse in images documenting the gay community,
pre-Stonewall
gay male photography blurs the boundaries between art, erotica, and
social history.
Post-Stonewall gay
male photography merits recognition for its contribution to
fine art, documentation, photo-journalism, and advertising, as well as
erotica.
American Landscape (1933) by George Platt Lynes
Sir Cecil Beaton (1904-1980) was
a celebrated British photographer who described himself as a "terrible,
terrible homosexualist."
F. Holland Day (1864-1933)
created homoerotic photographs notable for their relation to fin de
siècle cultural interests.
George Dureau (b. 1930) is
best known for his male figure studies,
narrative paintings, and photographs.
Rotimi Fani-Kayode
(1955-1989) was one of the most important black photographers of the late
twentieth century.
Baron Wilhelm von Gloeden
(1856-1931) was one of the earliest photographers of the male nude.
Glenn Ligon (b. 1960) is an
African-American mixed-media artist who often conflates issues of race
and gender.
German photographer
Herbert List (1903-1975) is best
known for images which combine eroticism with an avant-garde
sensibility.
George Platt Lynes (1907-1955)
was an American photographer whose greatest
work may have been his
homoerotic dance images and male nudes.
Robert Mapplethorpe
(1946-1989) created controversial images that typically combine
rigorously formal composition with extreme subject matter.
American photographer
Duane Michals (b. 1932)
represents same-sex love and spirituality as compellingly as he does
same-sex desire.
Herb Ritts (1952-2002) is best
known for his magazine covers, celebrity photos, and ad campaigns for
prestigious clients.
Pierre et Gilles (founded
1976) create painted photographs that capture the nuances of modern gay
life.
Arthur Tress (b. 1940) creates
uncompromising, poetic images that are the stuff of dreams.
Bruce Weber (b. 1946), one of the
world's most popular photographers, has re-envisioned
male beauty.
Minor White (1908-1976) created
fascinating photographs of male nudes but did not exhibit them for fear of
scandal.
David Wojnarowicz
(1954-1992) used his art to indict those he held responsible for the
AIDS epidemic.
more on Photography >>
Photo Credits:
Northwestern University Library Art Collection.
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