This is the work of Fred Holland Day (1864-1933), a pioneering American photographer. His work experimented with identity, race and gender. He was almost certain gay, years ahead of his time & widely criticised in his own
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Here he is, photographed by Gertrude Käsebier in 1898. The rest of the images in the thread are by Day.
His work often featured nude, young men and erotically charged imagery. For most of his life Day kept his sexuality private, telling his friends he was "married to his camera." He lived with a several male ‘companions’ & published a poetry on the history of male-male friendship
His biographer, Pam Roberts, wrote “Day never married & his sexual orientation, whilst it is widely assumed that he was homosexual, because of his interests, his photographic subject matter, his general flamboyant demeanor, was, like much else about him, a very private matter.”
Day was the son of a wealthy Boston merchant and as such he didn’t have to work. He travelled widely and joined the Boston Camera Club in 1889. His work was included in the London salon of 1895.
From 1895 to 1898, he undertook a project that was without precedent: a series of images of Jesus, with himself as Jesus. Day lost weight for the role, let his beard grow long, and imported cloth and a cross from Syria to create the images.
He had his Neighbours in Norwood, Massachusetts assisted him in an outdoor photographic staged photography re-enactment of the crucifixion. loc.gov/photos/?fa=sub…
The series absolutely outraged the art world, but aspiring artists were also hugely impressed - at his bravery, if nothing else. metmuseum.org/art/collection…
But the critics were savage. After one major exhibition in 1900, "Photographic News" wrote that his work was the product of a “diseased imagination, of which much has been fostered by the ravings of a few lunatics... unacademic ...and eccentric."
As well as his photography, Day co-founded and funded the publishing firm, Copeland and Day. The firm was the first in America to publisher of Oscar Wilde's Salomé, illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley.
November 1904, a fired completely destroyed his photography studio and dampened his enthusiasm for photography. His last known exhibition was in April 1922 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“In 1917, Day voluntarily took to his bed at his family home in Norwood, Massachusetts, surrounding himself with books, papers, and other items to stay mentally active. He died there of prostate cancer sixteen years later, on November 2, 1933.”
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If you would like to read a little more about Day, this online biography is very good markthomaskrone.wordpress.com/2016/05/06/f-h…
