I had a blast with this impromptu series. There was a cool old chair sitting outside the Club Charles over the weekend and after I took this first photo of Jeremy, Liz, Tommy and Debbie…there was no stopping me until I ran out of film. I started playing musical chairs and recruiting other friends and strangers that happened to wander by to sit in the chair for a quick photo.

It was like riding on the subway, never knowing who you might sit next to. I didn’t get a lot of names, so if you see anyone you know feel free to help name them.

This is the first shot that started it all.
Jeremy, Liz, Tommy and Debbie.

Unknown, Tara, Unknown, Simone

Unknown, Unknown, Josh Sisk, I forget her name

Unknown, I forget his name, Liz, Tommy

Liz, Mike Schechter, Unknown, Unknown

Unknown, I forget his name, Unknown, Unknown

Unknown, Mason, Unknown, Unknown

Unknown, Unknown, Bora, Unknown

Kim, Unknown, Nikki, Liz

Unknown, Unknown, Debbie, Matty Metro

Tommy, Liz, Nikki, Karl

Kim, Liz, Jeremy, Nikki

Sean, Unknown, I forget her name, Unknown

Unknown, Unknown, Unknown, Unknown

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I didn’t really see much of Artscape except for the area around Station North from Charles St. to Penn Station. These were taken on or near the bridge where the Midway exhibit was situated. I was kind of pissed that I had to back out of submitting an idea for this exhibit…

This trio was rockin’ hard in a tiny booth on the Midway. I don’t think they’re a real band, but I wish they were. I love girl drummers.

I spotted Sean Blue and friend performing in Robby Rackleff’s Midway booth. The film here is discolored because of the heat. I’ve had a good number of shots turn out with this green tint because I left some film unrefrigerated :[

Spotted Matty Metro on Charles St., promoting fall a little early.

Joe MacSpaceAlien was manning the UFO installation on the Midway.
Apparently there is facial hair in outer space.

I took a shift in the “Photobooth” project, photographing festival-goers as part of an installation at Penn Station and Chet popped into my booth for a minute.

I went with Nikki and Karl to the Phoenix where there was some sort of Wham City party going on…drunken dancing, basically. But when we got there, I realized that it was also a party for Spoon Popkin who I’d been hearing was getting hitched this weekend.

This is my favorite photo of the night.

I can’t remember this guy’s name, but he was nice and I gave him a Polaroid

NIKKI & KARL

W

BELIEVE. I think he liked Cher.

JOE MACLEOD. The guy’s been growing his hair out kind of like a crazy person’s and when I saw him I thought that it was getting a little out of hand, but then I realized it was only a hula skirt.

I have no idea who this is. It was one of those moments that last for a split second and you take the photo and  then it’s over.

Finally, a gay bar  where they let you dance!

Lots of people came out to the Fourth Wall photo show and I probably drank more than I probably should have…and it was all the worse because I skipped dinner. All the work looked nice and was presented really well. I was slightly concerned with how mine was going to hold up since I printed it on the cheap, but it looked great. (pictures later).

SHANNON, KATHY, BARBARA & RANDY

SAM HOLDEN. I think I piss Sam off every time I see him. I’m always wondering why he lives in Baltimore when I know he could probably kick ass in NY or LA, but he pretty much set me straight on a number of things. He asked me a couple of times if I needed another drink…not because he wanted to get me one, but because it was obvious I didn’t need another one. He gave me two whole seconds to take this photo and he literally sat up and refused more camera time after the two seconds were up….good thing I am quick.

RANDY.

Since this is an anonymous photo, I will just say that I have a friend with an alter ego that he calls “Kingface“. Many months ago, this friend volunteered to pose in the buff for me for one of my ongoing projects, but then he moved to Texas and I thought I’d probably see him once every two years or  something, so I was very surprised to run into him a couple of weeks ago and especially to hear him say, “We still need to take that photo.” Well, it was a no-brainer that we had to do it right then and there…and what the F…he had his Kingface get-up with him!

When I say “get-up”, I mean his crown. It’s a very distinctive look. It grows on me a little more each time I see it. Here’s a photo of me from over two years ago shooting Kingface.

Anyway, I LOVE this photo and I love Kingface for posing. And for his fans, he did mention to me that his penis gets a lot bigger.

I have TWO shows coming up this year and I need more nude models. In Sept. Chase Lisbon and I are having a collaborative show and in November I have a solo show at Metro Gallery. Let me know if you want to get nekkid.

In the past few months I have become internet friends with a great guy living in South Korea. His name is Travis Lee Street and he also shoots a lot of Polaroid and has an awesome mustache. Not only that, he’s a super nice guy and I guess I complained to him in too many emails that the Spectra I’ve been using has been crapping out on me in various ways. So the next thing I know is that I’m getting a “new” Polaroid Spectra in the mail courtesy of Mr. Street. What a guy!

I didn’t have the best model in the world to work with…or any in fact, so I used myself. In the shot above, I also used a separate light to fill in some of the back. I obviously need to work on the dynamic qualities of my self-portraits!

The one below with Jarvis looks a little yellow for some reason…maybe the film was sitting out in the heat too long. I’m also trying to give the camera a sultry look…the one that Josh Sisk gives cameras when he eye fucks them…but I can’t do it right. Oh, I should mention that Josh also gave me an old Spectra last year..and that one shit the bed already, but it was great while it lasted.

Jarvis looks so cute in this photo…a rare shot of us together. We noticed tonight that one of his little bottom teeth is about to fall out it’s the one right in the center, a little higher than all the rest.

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It might be said that I’m composing too many of my photos with the subject’s head in the top left corner too often. I don’t even realize that I’m doing it until I see a stack of photos that all have a similar composition. Who gives a shit, so long as the subjects are as great as these ones are.

PONYBOY. I saw this guy during Gay Pride and one of my friends asked why I wasn’t running over to take his photo. I said that he was too obvious and he didn’t strike me as a very interesting subject at all. But when I saw him start acting like a cute little pony I changed my mind. I just wish I had a bag of baby carrots to give him.

MOLLY. I feel like I never saw Molly before in my life until this past fall, now I’m seeing her all the time. I don’t really know much about her, so she’ll have to comment on this entry and enlighten us. I do know that she blogs for Metromix and is curating a show at the Wind-Up Space next month. She will be talking about the show on Maryland Morning (88.1 FM) at 9:40 a.m. on Monday the 7th.

BEAUTIFUL. I met Beautiful on the street during Gay Pride and I don’t know if it was my imagination or we really did have a nice, intimate connection. Or maybe she is just very forthcoming and open with everyone she meets. She came right out and told me she was a working girl and I wanted to be her friend, but she hasn’t called me yet. She’s the only person I’ve ever met named Beautiful.

ED SCHRADER. I ran into Ed at the Ponytail CD release party a couple of weeks ago . He’s one of those people that only knows me as “Defekto”…which is okay. I’d rather he know me as that than Drano or Charo.

I forget who this guy is with Ed, but Ed pointed out that they look the same…like brothers or a twin even. I don’t know Ed well enough to know if he’s bullshitting…it probably is his brother. On his last show he said that he and Emily Rabbit looked similar…so maybe this is a running joke. Who could possibly know.

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This man was so proud to be strutting around Mount Vernon with his impossibly short shorts.

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Baltimore Pride

Chet won the High Heel race again this year. He wore sensible chunky heels. That is key.

Driving in the parade.

I forget what this woman’s name is, but she is some kind of dyke royalty. She sat in the middle of the street, with people circling around her like she was a queen. One of the people around her sounded shocked that I didn’t know her. Maybe if I was a lesbian I would.

There was a sad shortage of drag queens in the parade. What’s up with that Baltimore???

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I met Grace at a 4th of July party six years ago. We had only been in Baltimore for a few weeks and I didn’t know anyone. I was thrilled to meet her because I feel incomplete if I don’t have a trannie friend and there she was, just waiting for me to befriend her. Unfortunately she hated me! When she walked onto the patio that day carrying a big bowl of fruit salad and dressed to the nines in a patriotic red, white and blue pantsuit covered in stars and stripes, I said something that rubbed her the wrong way.

Grace w/ Luke at the Drinkery.

It was something on the lines of “Hello Miss Liberty’s here!” All I got in return was a glare from hell. I tried my hardest to be friendly, but everything came out wrong and she just wanted to strangle me. This went on for years…an entire year would go by before I’d see her again and all she had for me was an “Oh no!”, like I had escaped from a leper colony. But NOW…suddenly we’re friends!

Grace is a Highlandtown Hon, a classic Baltimore personality and mother figure.

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