EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY

Looking at Anthony Friedkins’ Gay Essay, it was easy to be taken back. I visited Troopers Hall once or twice, but I couldn’t help but ponder something deeper in reflecting upon his images, the people in them, and ultimately that favorite topic of wonder: time.

I don’t know how I feel about time. Man-made invention to keep the world in order or a cheap reason to sell clocks—it is and has always been something. Time is made most memorable, of course, through photography—that quiet stealing of a moment, proposing truth, revealing a mystery, and forever gaining dust. Time steals, this we know. Watching a 30s comedy, we do the math; the actors most likely are all dead. We are watching a fluid photograph of images of dead people. We are experiencing a sixth sense. Still images, or portraits, as we like to call them, capture a moment, a quick glance, a frozen instance in life. Like galleries, we too collect images—the candid cell phone image made suddenly, the black and white Tri-X images of our youth, the SX-70 Polaroid film of our adolescence, the Kodak moments of our happy, colorful life—all captured and stored in worn boxes, shelved in quiet consideration of time.

So it was coming upon a photograph of my dear friend Richard at 17, posing in the Trooper’s bathroom in 1973. Time and age. Time and age. We are never prepared for age nor time really, lest the perpetual clicking of some clock somewhere. That anthesis of photography, the mirror, will tell you the truth if only you will let it. We seldom do, but for a gradual wearing away of the skin, the hair, and the body, told only in the stories of the eye. The camera, on the other hand, is that instrument of eternity. We see ourselves locked in a youthful embrace of a season of love, an old lover’s quick smile, and we have to remind ourselves that is a thing called the past.

Whoever invented the concept of the past, present, and future knew intimately about time, though one can only wonder when the present becomes the past, the future the present. These are matters that, when looked upon too closely, can conjure a kind of madness like molecules and electrons, present but hardly understood.

So we stick to the knowing, the things understood collectively as human beings, and that would bring us back to time and age. We are ill-prepared for age because it is one of those things that we don’t want to know like the stunning fact that we are all going to die. Age is the preparation for that eventuality. We grow old. The images of ourselves taken in bathrooms in the 1970s have little to do with the man now in his late 50s, other than reminding him that he doesn’t look, not even remotely like that. He doesn’t have, even in any remotely logical sense, anything of that person in his current being. He can remember, he can recall, and he can ponder all the words, starting with re, and it will never bring him back to that moment in reality. Because time and age changed him. That is what it does—the exact opposite of the photograph, which holds firm and insists on the moment. Many have considered photography magical. It revives the memory of dead parents, friends, and parents; it takes us to places we have been but can never get to again. That place in time, that moment, much like a kiss, which quietly moves the surroundings into the background, brings us strangely into the moment and nothing else.

A LOOK at the MOMENT

In 2024, homosexual art photography continues to evolve, embracing both personal and political themes with a focus on challenging societal norms and exploring queer identities. Some of the latest trends and notable works include:

1. Intimate Storytelling: Photographers like Lin Zhipeng (also known as “223”) from Beijing are pushing boundaries by capturing raw, intimate moments. His work often explores themes of freedom, but with an underlying tension due to the censorship it faces in China. His use of film over digital adds a layer of authenticity and nostalgia to his pieces​ (Queerty).

    

2. Queer History and Disruption: Artists like Deborah Bright are reinterpreting classic Hollywood imagery to insert queer narratives into mainstream culture. For example, her work alters iconic scenes from films to include a lesbian presence, thereby challenging the traditional heteronormative stories that these films convey​ (Queerty).

    

3. Emerging Queer Photographers: The queer photography scene is also seeing a rise in new talent, with exhibitions and galleries showcasing a variety of perspectives from around the world. These emerging photographers often mix genres, blending elements of fashion, documentary, and fine art photography to tell their stories. This eclectic approach reflects the diversity within the LGBTQ+ community itself ​( Advocate.com, PinkNews).

    

Overall, homosexual art photography in 2024 is vibrant and varied, with artists using their medium to explore personal identities, challenge societal norms, and document the queer experience in innovative ways.