Mr. Pearl, Corsetiere, NYC
From the series, Persona
Unaltered portrait of the legendary Mr. Pearl .
“To wear a corset all the time, the way I do, is my true discipline.” - Mr Pearl
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The Girl Can’t Help It, Amanda Lepore, Studio, NYC, 1995
From the series, Persona
Stylist Kitty Boots for Verbal Abuse Magazine #4, Chi Chi Valenti, editrix
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Toon Martens, Studio, Antwerp, 2012 From the series, In Borrowed Light
“The petals are inscribed with letters serving alike for hero and for boy: this one a name, and that a cry of woe.” -Ovid , Metamorphoses, Bk XIII
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Daniel Lismore, SCAD Fashion Museum, Atlanta, GA, 2016
Portrait inspired by Velasquez’ Las Meninas (1656)
“Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.” -Oscar Wilde
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The God of Whistling, Michael Robinson, Studio, Atlanta, GA, 2016
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“…now everywhere I am is
the center of everything. I must
be the lord of something.
what was I before ? a boy? a son?
a warning? a myth? I whistled
now I’m the god of whistling”
-Danez Smith, summer,somewhere
Emma (Griffiths) Willis, British Tv presenter, Studio, NYC, 2000
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Gilbert and George (Diptych), Fournier Street, London, 1987
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Gilbert and George (Diptych), Fournier Street, London, 1987
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Gilbert and George, Fournier Street, London, 1987
From the series, We Are Only Artists
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“We are only human sculptors in that we get up every day, walking sometimes …. tea drinking, feeling tired, dancing sometimes, philosophising a lot, criticising never, whistling tunefully, dying very slowly…. greeting politely and waiting till the day breaks” - The Words of Gilbert and George.
Dame Edna Everage #1, Park Lane Hotel, London, 1989 photographed for the London Times.
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Dame Edna is a character performed by Barry Humphries.
Dame Edna Everage #2, Park Lane Hotel, London, 1989, photographed for the London Times.
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Dame Edna is a character performed by Barry Humphries.
“Never be afraid to laugh at yourself. After all, you might be missing the joke of the century.” -Dame Edna
Jude Law, Studio East 5th Street, NYC, 1995
From the series, Persona
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The Mirror in the Hall, Daniel Lismore, Studio, Atlanta, 2016
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Dress by Giorgio Armani
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Andrew McMillan, poet, Liverpool, UK, 2017 From the series, We Are Only Artists
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Andrew McMillan’s book of poems, Physical, won the Guardian First Book Award in 2015.
“we are told to tell our bodies that they are beautiful
we are told not to pass judgement
on where the breath may fall…”
- Andrew McMillan, Yoga
His series of self-portraits, Project Diaspora from 2014 presents important black historical figures from the 15th to the 18th century who have been excluded from their historical context.
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Stephen Jones, OBE, Milliner, Studio, SCAD Atlanta, 2017
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Michael Clark, CBE, dancer & choreographer,
Riverside Studios, London, 1987
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Keziah Hodgson, musician, Liverpool Studio, 2016
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Larry Kramer, NYC, n.d.
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Larry Kramer, writer and human rights activist, wrote The Normal Heart and co-founded GMHC & ACTUP . He changed our lives; he changed history. He died on May 27, 2020.
Quentin Crisp, coffee shop, 2nd Avenue, NYC n.d.
From the series, Persona
Quentin Crisp, author, actor, epigrammist and activist died in 1999.
“If at first you don’t succeed, failure may be your style” - QC
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Walter van Beirendonck, artist, fashion designer, Antwerp, 2012
From the series, Persona
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James Anthony Morris (Red Velvet Shirt), Liverpool, 2017
From the series, His Tender Heir
“His tender heir might bear his memory” -Shakespeare, Sonnet 1
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Marisa Schiaparelli Berensen, Actor, Hotel Meurice, Paris, n.d.
From the series, Persona.
Among her many movies is the brilliant film Barry Lyndon (1975) directed by Stanley Kubrick, shot in natural light and Cabaret (1972) directed by Bob Fosse.
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Betony Vernon, Artist, Paris, 2014
From the series, Persona
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Atelier, Paradise Found; www.betonyvernon.com
Eric Roberts, Actor, NYC, n.d. From the series, Persona . He won a Golden Globe for his first leading role in King of the Gypsies (1978), directed by Frank Pierson.
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Zaldy Goco and Mathu Andersen.
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Jimmy Scott, jazz singer, NYC, n.d. From the series, Persona
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Roberta Flack singing “Where is the love” (for Interview Magazine), Studio, NYC, 1991 From the series, Persona
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From the series, We Are Only Artists
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Allen Ginsberg, poet, East 2nd Street , NYC, n.d. From the series, Persona
“Down to the river! into the street!” - Allen Ginsberg, HOWL
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Anh Duong, artist, NYC, 2000
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Dragoness, Lola von Flame
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Jeffrey Girodias, Dancer, Alvin Ailey, NYC, 2001
From the series, We Are Only Artists
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Augusten Burroughs, photographed at Ivy Hall, the SCAD Writing School, Atlanta, GA, 2017
Augusten Burroughs, writer and mindfulness advocate, is the author of many important books including Running with Scissors, Lust and This is How .
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David Womack, NYC, n.d.
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Duane Michals, great innovative photographic artist, NYC, 2017 From the series, Persona
“I ask a lot of questions. I’m always involved with language, which I think is essential.”
- Duane Michals, Illusions of the Photographer, 2019
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Isaac Julien, CBE, installation artist, filmmaker, NYC, 1993
From the series Persona
His films include Young Soul Rebels, Looking for Langston, Fritz Fanon: Black Skin, White Mask & Lessons of the Hour
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Dylan Bowcock, Liverpool Studio, UK, 2016
From the series, In Borrowed Light
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Susan Stockard Channing has inhabited culture defining roles from Rizzo in Grease (1978, directed by Randal Kleiser) to Ouisa Kittredge in Six Degrees of Separation ( 1990, written for her by John Guare).
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Zoltan Smoking #1, Place des Vosges,Paris, 2005
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Luc Tuymans, photographed in his studio, Antwerp, 2014
From the series, We Are Only Artists
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Lady Bunny, DJ, & founder of Wigstock, photographed for Out Magazine, NYC, n.d. From the series, Persona
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Mike Gonzales, Dancer, NYC, 1992
Mike was a star of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo
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Michael York, OBE, Actor, photographed for L’Uomo Vogue. Among his memorable roles, of course he was unforgettable in Cabaret (1972, directed by Bob Fosse) and Romeo and Juliet (1968, directed by Franco Zeffirelli).
“There’s this endless quest: Who are we ? What are we doing? Where are we going.” - MY
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From the series, Persona
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A Strange Beauty, John Kelly as trapeze artist Vander Barbette (after Man Ray), NYC, n.d.
From the series, We Are Only Artists
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Nathan J. #2, Summer of ‘16, Liverpool Studio, UK, 2016
From the series, His Tender Heir
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Matthew Barney, Isle of Man, UK, 1995
Films: Cremaster Cycle, Drawing Restraint
The cremaster is a muscle of the pelvis and the perineum which covers the spermatic cord and is fully developed only in the genitalia of males.
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Francis Ford Coppola, filmmaker, San Francisco n.d.
My favorite FFC film is One From the Heart (1981) with Frederic Forest, Teri Garr and Nastasia Kinski. It has a killer soundtrack by Tom Waits and Crystal Gayle.
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Paltrow won an Academy Award for Shakespeare in Love (1988, directed by John Madden)
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Rob Berry, Musician, Liverpool Studio, 2016 From the series, His Tender Heir
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Farah Pahlavi, Paris, 2003
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Sylvain LaFortune, NYC, n.d. Dancer, Lars Lubovitch Dance Co.
From the series, We Are Only Artists
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Ross Bleckner, at home, in a dress by Todd Oldham, 1992
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Susanne Bartsch, producer, founder of the Love Ball, wearing a corset by Mr. Pearl, Hotel Chelsea, NYC, 2003
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Naomi Campbell in an Yves St Laurent dress and hat, Halloween Costume Shop, NYC 1990, for New York Magazine, Editor, Wendy Goodman.
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Simon Doonan, writer, commentator, cultural advisor. Books include Eccentric Glamour, How to Be Yourself & Confessions of A Window Dresser. “Why be conventional when you can be happy? -S.D.
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From the series, In Borrowed Light
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Theo Kogan fronted the punk band Lunachicks (1987-2000) and currently, Theo & the Skyscrapers. Clothing by Kitty Boots
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Johnny Dynell is a super dj, producer, recording artist, impresario & founder, with Chi Chi Valenti, of Jackie 60, the seminal 90’s weekly party. Mother left the building in 2000, but not the hearts and minds of her devoted followers. Albums include Jam Hot , The Jackie Hustle & Una Notte A Napoli (with Alba Clemente &Pink Martini).
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Zemfira Ramazanova is a Russian alternative rock musician. To date she has sold more than 3 million records.
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Zaldy Goco, designer & Mathu Andersen, make-up artist and creative consultant.
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Andy Warhol, with art dealer, Edmund Gwaltney, NYC, 1986, photographed for L’Uomo Vogue
Andy Warhol died in 1987
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Chi Chi Valenti, St Marks in the Bowery, NYC, 1996.
The great Chi Chi Valenti, Empress of New York night life (virtual and real time), producer, poet, editrix, founder (with her husband, super DJ Johnny Dynell) of the situationist night club, Mother and it’s many legendary manifestations : Jackie 60, Long Black Veil, Verbal Abuse, Click and Drag and the long running Night of a Thousand Stevies,
“Were the leaves this gold and did the lions get away forever? Were there boxes of soot for early snow, Did the ploughman weep much longer when you walked her there across Palace Gate….” - Chi Chi Valenti, Whitechapel Girls .
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