1) Last Saturday I caught a screening of Hidden Master: The Legacy of George Platt Lynes at the MFA, part of the Wicked Queer Film Festival which I found out about thanks to the History Project (thanks, History Project, for that email!). It made quite an impression, and you should see it.
2) First, I thought GPL was better known than he actually is. I don’t know why I feel like I’ve always known about him and his work; am I part of some disparate unaware community of cognoscenti? Long story short (too late!) he was one of the greatest (if not the greatest) American photographer of the midcentury, known publicly in his lifetime for his work in fashion and portraiture (everyone from Gertrude Stein to Yul Brynner), but under the radar for his male nudes. He also did lots of fabulous ballet photographs for what became New York City Ballet. I knew he was connected to Alfred Kinsey and the Kinsey Institute, but I hadn’t realized that the largest surviving chunk of his legacy resides with the Kinsey, or that the second largest chunk resides with the estate of Frederick Koch.
2a) This is alarming - I choose that word carefully — because the state of Indiana (where the Kinsey is part of Indiana University) has just defunded the Kinsey Institute this month. Doesn’t that just underscore how fragile non-homophobic history is in America? GPL is too great an artist to have his legacy put at risk by a homophobic, conservative state legislature. There, I’ve said it.
3) The other thing — totally unexpected — was that GPL was known in New York for his splendid cocktail parties. All the beautiful men would be there, along with celebrities from the fashion world like Diana Vreeland. This being the the 1930s-1940s, you know they’d all be beautifully and properly dressed in suits and ties and little black dresses with Lily Daché hats, camping it up with martinis and impressions of Bea Lillie. In the documentary they had home movie film footage (not of one of George’s actual parties) of exactly what I describe. This heavily underlined for me the need we have in the gay community to create in-person community. Online community is fragile and may be snuffed out in a minute. Ever hear of ghosting, or of Instagram censorship that leads to the disappearing of accounts? And during this era (it’s much longer than a period or an aberration, it’s a damn era) of political anxiety, we need community. Dinners, coffees, meetups - hell, breakfasts — but especially cocktail parties from 5:00-7:00 PM (read: 5:30 - 8:30). I am tired of the excuses. Community takes work! And sometimes that means committing to mix up an extra pitcher of aviations for a thirsty crowd. You can do this!
4) The documentary is beautifully, lovingly created. Over the last 13 (!) years they interviewed surviving friends, employees, models (especially Jensen Yow), his nephew, and lovers, including Bernard Perlin, the artist to whom GPL bequeathed the lion’s share of his work (which is the collection that Frederick Koch’s collection now owns). I would have missed it entirely if it weren’t for that email from the History Project, and now I only regret that the house was less than half full when I saw it — and that very few people in the house were younger than I. This film, and George’s legacy, are enormously important. I need you to see it, and to have a damn party! (And invite me . . .)