Magnus Arrevad – Boy Story
“First by accident, then with intent, I was drawn into a subterranean world of go-go dancers, male porn stars, boylesque and circeulesque. I was fascinated by the processes and preparations through which the performers visibly liberated themselves from the social roles they observed during the daylight hours. They had invented a world in their own image, with their own gods and their own ceremonies. It wasn’t just about sexuality, though of course this was a large part. It was about being. The application of makeup each night was one in which a mask was taken off, not put on. I wanted to document this process of liberation.
And so, for five years, I followed them. From New York to Paris to London to Sligo to a trailer park in Tacoma. Boy Story is the travelogue of these nocturnal journeys with Go-go Harder, EvilHateMonkey, The Luminous Pariah and so many others.
Of course I was a voyeur. But who wouldn’t be, given the chance. For me, this was an act of classical portraiture, continuing a long tradition, but showing selves that could only exist in our time. I forsook digital for analogue black and white medium format, which meant I could shoot only a limited number of shots per night, and forced a sense of occasion into every click of the shutter. I think it shows.
The performances are debauched, magical and often hilarious, but underpinning it all is a grave sense of purpose: to bring the dream of oneself into being.” – Magnus Arrevad
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