Finding aid to the David Greene Shameless Photographs, 1974 Coll2013.011

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Finding aid to the David Greene Shameless Photographs, 1974 Coll2013.011

Coll2013.011

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Table of contents

Shameless photographs 1974

Arrangement

The photographic prints are arranged alphabetically by subjects name or title of the work.

General note

Text describing the subjects and settings was transcribed from David Greene's book, Shameless: Photographs (1977).

Box-binder 1

Blaze and Eric's last tango 1974

Box-binder 1

Christopher at home with ghost in the chair (in the mirror) 1974

Greene's description

"Christopher Lonc was a consummate genderfuck performer. We met in Berkeley in 1974 at a gay liberation front meeting. Many queens wore drag in the bars at night, but Christopher was among the few doing it on the street in daylight. He thought of what he did as street theater. Christopher wanted to raise consciousness, to make people aware of how arbitrary clothes were, and to show how limited the range of what most people allowed themselves to wear was. Some people criticized Christopher for aping femininity, but he said that what he was doing was expanding the possibilities for men. He believed that if every man would spend just one day in drag, it would cure most of the world's ills. Like most genderfuck artists, Christopher's passion for mixed gender outfits arose not out of any sexual fetish, but from an exuberant creativity and playfulness. His street theater took tremendous courage."

"We collaborated on many portraits. He wanted Matisse-like pictures, full of busy detail and textures in haphazard but aesthetically interesting arrangements. He constructed the iconography of his living space for each of these portraits. Christopher had a rule: never wear the same outfit twice. He wanted to invent himself anew every day."

Box-binder 1

Harmodius (Tony Rogers) in exile in his bedroom with pipe and jewelry 1974

Box-binder 1

Tania at home in secretary drag 1974

Greene's description

"Tanye [Tania] was one of my favorite subjects. He had just moved to San Francisco when we met, having lived and worked for several years as a woman librarian in South America. Eventually Tanye decided he was more interested in genderfuck than in transgender."

Box-binder 1

Steve Davis at his birthday party with gift 1974

Greene's description

"I took this photograph at Steven Davis's twenty-first birthday party in Nice's Berkeley apartment. The party was one of the first social events for a circle of young gay men who became friends in the mid-1970s. Steven had just arrived in California from Ohio and received many gifts--some serious, some camp. He especially loved the baby doll. He also received a rhinestone necklace, a rhinestone bracelet (worn as an arm band), and a bejeweled vest. This photograph became the poster image for the first exhibit of Shameless in 1974 at the Darkroom Workshop Gallery."

Box-binder 1

Self-Portrait with grandfather and high school graduation picture, at my grandfather's house 1974

Box-binder 1

Aarmour Starr in front of his mantelpiece 1974

Box-binder 1

Aarmour Starr in his living room with "Song of the Islands" poster 1974

Box 2

Tea Time, Three Revolutionaries, San Francisco 1974

Greene's description

"Genderfuck trios, Tea Time was a difficult photograph to take because Teddie, Jessie, and Bobo were camping it up so much that none of us could stop laughing. The process of loading the 4x5 film into the negative carriers, which I did with my hands inserted in a black changing bag while sitting on the floor with the bag in my lap, was the subject of much amusement. Eventually I managed to get the lighting set up in the kitchen. Jesse added the S&H green stamp prop, and that inspired the moment. They all sat down and struck a pose. I took just one exposure, and that was it."

Box-binder 1

Tom Turner, pianist and composer, as Michaelangelo's "David" with earring 1974

Greene's description

"Tom Turner is a pianist and composer. This portrait shows how genderfuck could be achieved with something as simple as an earring. The sight of a man wearing an earring was shocking in 1974.The photograph's reference to Michelangelo's David was based on our memory of how Michelangelo had posed David's right arm. This photograph was included in the New Art Examiner review of the 1978 Shameless exhibit in Chicago."

Box-binder 1

Vector magazine article October 1974

Collection Contents

Shameless photographs

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