On Christopher Street.

Mark Seliger, “Adrian Torres and Carmen Carrera” (2015), gelatin silver print, 36 x 36 inches, Edition of 7+2AP (all images courtesy the artist and Von Lintel Gallery).

Mark Seliger, “Adrian Torres and Carmen Carrera” (2015), gelatin silver print, 36 x 36 inches, Edition of 7+2AP (all images courtesy the artist and Von Lintel Gallery).

Mark Seliger, “Mahayla McElroy” (2015), gelatin silver print 36 x 36 inches, Edition of 7+2AP.

Mark Seliger, “Mahayla McElroy” (2015), gelatin silver print 36 x 36 inches, Edition of 7+2AP.

Mark Seliger, “Benjamin Melzer” (2016), gelatin silver print, 36 x 36 inches, Edition of 7+2AP.

Mark Seliger, “Benjamin Melzer” (2016), gelatin silver print, 36 x 36 inches, Edition of 7+2AP.

LOS ANGELES — Mark Seliger is a widely known photographer, with over 125 Rolling Stone covers to his name, yet there is something new and revelatory in On Christopher Street, his current exhibit at Von Lintel Gallery showing portraits of trans women and men. Seliger lives and works in Manhattan’s West Village, and although he is primarily a celebrity photographer, this new body of work arose from engaging with the trans people in his own neighborhood.

Seliger has the rare ability to get his subjects to open up to the lens, their deeper layers rising to the surface of the picture. The photographs are black and white, executed in the high-gloss stew of hero worship and advertising we have come to expect from images of the famous. Though the Christopher Street subjects are mostly ordinary folk, his visual style confers a measure of stardom upon them without eclipsing their human vulnerability.

You can read all about this fabulous exhibit, and see more, at Hyperallergic.

Local Life.

From rq: 1) busstop artwork, for a campaign to build a publicly but not governmentally funded arthouse/gallery, title: Don’t Need War; 2) a street – if you go to the touristy places, things are cleaned up, but this is more typical, plus some cold February sun right down the middle!

Gotta say, I love Don’t Need War! Click for full size.

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© rq, all rights reserved.

Colour Avoidance.

Meltdown Avoidance, bright colours version. This is rather tricky, the injected colour doesn’t stay solid long before it explodes, and it makes focusing difficult, but still…fun. And distracting! Not at my best today, with being patient and stuff, so I’ll revisit this at some other time. I know 3 and 4 seem the same, but they aren’t. 4 is much more fetus-y. :D Click for full size.

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Avoidance.

People who get to deal with chronic trauma, extreme stress, all that, know the consequences of falling into complete meltdown. Sometimes, too many, that’s unavoidable, but other times, it can be staved off, at least. I’m hyper-alert, hyper-vigilant, all the hyper, and it’s making it very hard for me to breathe. So, distraction. A glass dish, water, oil, black desk, and a camera. Meltdown Avoidance, click for full size. These are straight out of the camera, no fiddling. Definitely used a flash.

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