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Paperback
Publisher: Serpent's Tail
This work comprises one man's personal and highly idiosyncratic view of gay history since the invention of the camera. Alongside the famous and infamous are images of "ordinary" gay men, taken at times that only friends and lovers would bother to record.
James Gardiner's eclectic collection of gay male photos, postcards, play bills, theater posters, and other ephemera is an unguided tour through 100 years of gay male life and culture. Gardiner has wisely followed no specific historical or literary plan--although the photos are arranged in general chronological order--and the effect is striking. As you page through the hundreds of images, you are forced to make your own connections, construct your own sense of reality. Who's a Pretty Boy Then? is a historical and artistic tour de force that brings gay male history alive.
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| A Man's Personal View |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Gardiner, James. "Who's Pretty Boy, Then: One Hundred and Fifty Years of Gay Life in Pictures". Serpent's Tail, 1998.
A Man's Personal View
Amos Lassen
James Gardiner gives us his personal and idiosyncratic view of gay history since the camera became a way to record images of men. This is a collection of photos, playbills, postcards, posters and other objects that contain images of gay men through a century of gay life. There is no plan here but there is a lot to see Gardiner has adhered to something of a chronological order and he gives us a wonderful look. We are allowed to draw our own conclusions as we get a history in photos. The men pictured are both the famous and the infamous and the man on the street--the ordinary Joe.
Since there is little commentary, we are left to interpret the pictures as we choose but we do see that this is a look at British men. The book gives a historical perspective on several levels which include the use of the camera as a record, the transformation of society, the psychological move from hiding to openness and the modern age with Stonewall and the beginnings of liberation.
There is nothing scholarly about the book--it is just one man's view but it is comprehensive based on some graphic material and some small texts. What we do see is that men have loved men for a long time.
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| Friendly travel in time for gay history |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Really great book! Comprehensive way to overlook male-male relationships and gay history from 19th to 20th Century, based on graphic material and small texts which provides a social or historic context to images. Some pics are a piece of art, like the one in cover. Others may be illustrative of customs or social enviroments from different periods.
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| Great Pix, but... |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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I got this as a present, and I am never sure what one has to do with picture books once seen they seem to have exhausted their usefulness. Nevertheless, it passes the time for novices on this subject; and one could always leave it lying around for 'straight' visitors to find...
This picture volume has more the feel of a labour of love than that of a scholarly work, and I am sure it doesn't aspire to that. The fact that it is very much London (UK) based limits its scope for other audiences somewhat despite some Baron von Gloeden images. I did find a 2 or 3 people in there I had come across in my time when clubbing in London; it serves me as a nice memento then. (Bless; Regina Fong)
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| A multifacteted overview |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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To dismiss this book as just an excuse to dredge up some titillating photographs for the purpose of publishing is an injustice. This collection is an historical perspective on many levels - the camera as a art form since its invention, a survey of sociolgical transformations as to the perception of homosexuality, the psychological sweep from the closet to the stage to Stonewall to the AIDS bedside and beyond. There are many many captured moments that seem voyeuristic in the best sense of the word in that the spontaneity of individuals interacting as well as groups entertaining are fresh and often off guard. Here is a portfolio of tenderness, of hilarity, and of tragedy. Would that there were more essays interspersed to document the various periods traversd. But then we must also pay homage to the phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words". Well worth your time.
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| We were everywhere |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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A great book of wonderful pictures that proves that men have been loving men for quite some times. Really great eye candy with a historical perspective.
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