Boys! Boys! Boys! ‘Gouche Foto’, photography Clifton Mooney, Vol.4
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BOYS!BOYS!BOYS! – issue 4: combating homophobic censorship: Ghislain Pascal

BOYS!BOYS!BOYS! has a philanthropical side to it – one dollar from each magazine sale is donated to those battling HIV/AIDS and to LGBTQ+ charities

The Big House

BOYS!BOYS!BOYS! is a magazine published by The Little Black Gallery in London. Both the magazine and publishing house was co-founded by Ghislain Pascal. The magazine, was established during the dark days of COVID lockdowns and was created to promote gay and queer photography, relying on photographers around the world where specifically homosexual lives are being risked. BOYS!BOYS!BOYS! is proud to serve as a platform for artists who may be censored or even persecuted for showing their work. 

«These are countries where it’s not safe to be gay. So it’s hard for these photographers to find a platform, to find galleries to work with. With the onset of social media, we all were excited, but unfortunately, most of the photographers I work with are regularly censored. There is homophobic censorship, particularly of male photography. We’re the first and only online art platform dedicated to just queer and gay photography», explains Ghislain. It is a biannual magazine, with volume 4 being their latest edition, featuring 10 photographers from around the world and an interview with American photographer Greg Gorman.  

No Censors Allowed at BOYS! BOYS! BOYS!

Everyday around the world, photographers, especially those showcasing queer and gay work, get censored whether it be online or in the real world. Pascal was driven by the fact that there was a need for a platform for these photographers. BOYS!BOYS!BOYS! calls for a new age of photographers to experiment with gay and queer photography, in a way that is uncensored and open. 

«It’s a fine art photography magazine. I don’t want anybody to presume it’s pornography», Pascal explains. «There are magazines out there that cater to the queer and gay market in terms of pictures of nice hunky men. Of course, there are some of those, but it’s in the context of fine art photography, and everything that we do is through that prism. We’re trying to provide a platform to a market sector that is ignored».

Bob Carlos Clarke

Back in 2008, Pascal opened The Little Black Gallery in the Chelsea neighborhood of London with his business partner, Tamara Beckwith Verioni. «I was Bob Carlos Clarke’s agent. Sadly he killed himself in 2006, so we opened the gallery in his memory, launched with his images and some of his friends’ work, people like Patrick Lichfield. We were known as a sexy gallery for girls». Throughout his work, Ghislain became acquainted with Tyler Udall, a former senior fashion editor at Dazed and Confused and An0ther, An0ther Man and Canadian photographer. «He’s gay, and he shoots his friends, and I bought some of his pictures from a gallerist in New York, and then before you know it, we were representing him».

BOYS! BOYS! BOYS: Pascal’s vision that will open people’s minds up to gay and queer stories

Pascal holds in high regard Udall’s work, but he struggled to find the right fit for the pieces within the gallery. «We had done a group show called GIRLS!GIRLS!GIRLS!, so BOYS!BOYS!BOYS! seemed like the natural next step», Ghislain states when concerning where to go next. Before they knew it, there was an online auction house, Paddle8 in 2017, that served as a group show. Consequently, it went on to independently publish two books, over the past two years, then teaming with teNeues I MENDO, and finally launched an e-commerce. «The more we do with BOYS!BOYS!BOYS!, the more people approach me to join the program, and now we’ve got over sixty-five photographers from thirty countries».

The magazine is an epitome of  Pascal’s vision that it will hopefully open people’s minds up to gay and queer stories. Israeli photographer Niv Shank sent a series of photos, By the Lake, in late 2020. «I was looking at it thinking, maybe I could pick one or two for the platform, but it would be such a shame not to show the whole story. So I hung up on him and decided to publish a magazine. In all of three months». The magazine, which was designed by Jeremy Kunze, is meant to be a collector’s edition. 

Gay and Queer Photography from a Different Point of View

Udall, Shank, and Danish photographer Michael Søndergaard are amongst the ten photographers that were featured in Volume One. Pascal was rather taken by surprise that so many photographers wanted to partake. So overwhelmed that he already had ten more in line for Volume Two. BOYS!BOYS!BOYS! also has a philanphrical side to it, one dollar from each magazine sale will be donated to those battling HIV/AIDS and to LGBTQ+ charities.  «Why not? It’s not like I’m going to make money from the magazine, so we might as well give something back. With the books we donated to charity and with GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS! we donated to the Lady Garden Foundation, a charity set up by my business partner, Tamara. It’s inherent that we should all be more philanthropic», stated Pascal. 

Bringing acceptance of gay and queer photography to the contemporary art scene is a goal of Pascal’s, and he hopes he can deliver this through BOYS!BOYS!BOYS!. For Pascal, he considers this type of expression to be «an integral part of the art community», he says. «You don’t have to be gay or queer to buy or appreciate it; there’s a spectrum. So when I curate, I have to think about this too, particularly on the platform. It can’t just be my taste. We’re not trying to be a social reportage of the gay and queer community because that would be endless, and I have to bear in mind that we’re a gallery. We have to sell the work».

In the same breathe, he endorses that fine art is still something not everyone can easily afford or have access to. The Little Black Gallery has allowed for a point of entry for collectors with magazines or books. Pascal says, «We’ve done two posters and sets of postcards for that reason. We’re trying to make it accessible». 

Creating a Photography Book

For Pascal, he finds curation natural and claims that assembling the two books and magazines has been the most joyous part of BOYS!BOYS!BOYS! «The simplest thing with a book is to keep the first edit you do. The more you tinker with something – you pull images out, you put images in – the worse it gets».

A frequent collaborator, Pascal works often with designer Jeremy Kunze of Studio Kunze, including on a recent Bob Carlos Clarke book, has always been a crucial aspect of this project. «I’m not a designer, and I can’t claim to be, but I’ve got a good eye. I send my edit to Jeremy, who is on the same wavelength. Rarely do I have to move stuff around. It’s a joy. Initially, I was slightly worried as he doesn’t identify as queer or gay, but it doesn’t matter because he’s looking at it from a design perspective».

AdeY x Boys!Boys!Boys!

They hosted online exhibitions every month during COVID lockdowns, in addition to publishing biannually, to shine attention towards the various photographers that they represent. «We’re only doing ten or twelve images, so it’s not overwhelming to the senses, and they’re all available to buy at the click of a button. They’re not flying out, nothing’s flying out now, but it’s consistent. We’re building up an archive of work that will always be there, giving the photographers something to be happy about».

Swedish–English choreographer and Photographer, AdeY, was hand-selected by Pascal due to his captivating style to feature his work, Boys Will Be Boys during the online exhibitions. «I met him early on in BOYS!BOYS!BOYS! and he’s become a good friend. You can see that he’s a choreographer in his imagery. The majority of the people in the pictures are dancers. I’m sure if somebody gave me one hundred photographs and snuck in one or two of AdeY’s, I would be able to pick them out». In Pascal’s opinion, withholding such an intrinsic, unmistakable style is crucial for sealing ones fate of success in the world of art and photography. 

BOYS!BOYS!BOYS! Volume 4

In this edition, BOYS!BOYS!BOYS! offers a light of optimism and joyfulness amongst all of the self-repression and censorship currently surrounding the world of gay and queer photography.

Pascal proudly stated that BOYS!BOYS!BOYS! can now be found in several new stockists globally, from Tom Greyhound in Paris, to The Library Project in Dublin. This new 4th edition features photographers from all around the world, such as Poland, Ireland, USA, and what some may consider controversial, Russia. Pascal also made a point to highlight the fact that one of the photographers within the issue official came out though BOYS!BOYS!BOYS!. 

The BOYS!BOYS!BOYS! team is steadfastly supporting their photographers in both Ukraine and Russia. Within this issue, Vlad Zorin features his series With Love from Russia, where he chatted with and photographed young Russians from around the country, focusing on sexuality. Currently, same-sex marriage is banned in Russia, and homosexuality is greatly frowned upon. Pascal highlighted that his Ukrainian Photographer, Dmytro Komissarenko is presently in Ukraine defending his country. The editor has pleaded with readers to support these two artists by purchasing their pieces via BOYS!BOYS!BOYS!

Flipping through the pages, readers can expect strong images done in the utmost tasteful way. In the middle of the magazine, find an interview with famed American photographer Greg Goreman. Embedded within masculine pop culture, known for his characteristic shadow lighting and way of building strong bonds with his subjects, Mr. Goreman talks about his approach and how he was given flack for it at the beginning of his career. That doubt from others eventually catapulted him to where he is now, named alongside other legendary photographers such as Helmut Newton and Richard Avedon. He advocates for voices to express themselves, ignoring labels of one’s work and one to find their own beauty in what they behold. 

Ghislain Pascal 

Mr. Ghislain Pascal is the co-founder of The Little Black Gallery, one of London’s premier photography galleries, and BOYS!BOYS!BOYS!. He is a devoted photography collector and within his collection include several queer photographs that are currently in a new, permanent exhibition space where he lives in France. 

BOYS!BOYS!BOYS!

BOYS!BOYS!BOYS! is an art platform that derived from The Little Black Gallery and is curated by co-founder Ghislain Pascal to popularize queer and gay photography. Within includes work from over 65 photographers, representing 30 countries globally including Turkey, Russia, Poland Argentina, and Iran, where gay rights are repressed and queer lives are always in danger. BOYS!BOYS!BOYS! serves as a platform for artists who are frequently finding their work to be censored. It includes magazines, books, photography courses, exhibitions and more. 

Kaitlyn Durbin

The writer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article.

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