MasculineCurves

Where I found you...

Quicker than a ray of light...

 

On the water...

When they fall...

Street Angel

in search of angels...

 

 

For the fantasy and fear of angels...

A few years ago I read a book titled City of Night by John Rechy. Originally published in 1963 it is considered a classic of gay literature. City of Night is the fictional account of a young male prostitute who chronicles his journeys of tricks and trajedies from the neon glow of Times Square to the deceptive festivities of the French Quarter. Throughout this novel there's an overpowering theme of wandering through loneliness in the search for greater meaning and depth in heart. And what's most disappointing is that neither the hustler nor his clients ever truly find what it is they're seeking. While the story was supposedly fiction I couldn't help but to wonder which aspects of it were taken from the author's real-life experiences.

Perhaps one of the novel's most memorable characters is a regular trick called "The Professor." Like I said, it's been a few years since I read City of Night, but if I recall correctly The Professor was an elderly, overweight, man with thick glasses. His fetish was paying young men, not for sex, but for conversation. He referred to them as "his angels". And at the end of each session he'd take polaroid pictures of them as a keepsake. When I read this chapter I was intrigued by the Professor. He just seemed so lonely and desperate. He was a very lonely person and his only companions were these street hustlers.

I've always been fascinated with the idea of the depiction of angels in photography. So with this post, I kick off a new tag here on the blog, "angels." The angel series is my exploration of the fantasy of these elusive beings and how they touch our souls. My only fear is that 20 or 40 years from now I will become The Professor from The City of Night.