Uncovering a Glamorous Archive of Queer Portraits From 1970s New York

"New York City has long held an irresistible allure for young dreamers seeking creative and sexual freedom, but the 1970s and 80s were a particularly febrile period in the city's rich countercultural life. In 1974, as Andy Warhol and his Factory acolytes dominated the upper echelons of the NYC art scene, a young, unknown photographer named Bobby Busnach began transforming a decaying Upper West Side apartment into an alternative Factory, a theatrical dreamscape conjured by dramatic lighting and decadent set dressing."

"For the ensuing six years, set against this lavish, carefully cultivated backdrop, Busnach worked with the help and patronage of his best friend, Geraldine "Gerry" Visco, taking mesmerising portraits of their friends, styling them in a melange of old Hollywood glamour and contemporary finds from the likes of Fiorucci, Vivienne Westwood, Frederick's of Hollywood, Stephen Burrows, Charles Jourdan, and more."

New York City attracted young dreamers seeking creative and sexual freedom, with the 1970s and 80s as a febrile period of countercultural life. In 1974 Bobby Busnach transformed a decaying Upper West Side apartment into an alternative Factory, using dramatic lighting and decadent set dressing to create a theatrical dreamscape. Between 1974 and 1980 Busnach and Geraldine "Gerry" Visco took mesmerising portraits, styling friends in a melange of old Hollywood glamour and contemporary designers such as Fiorucci and Vivienne Westwood. Their Park Royal home became a queer, transgressive space where runaways and renegades were staged as stars. A new collection assembles previously unpublished images revealing glamour, tenderness, and blurred boundaries between art, performance, and identity.

Read at AnOther