Homo File articulates desire

We are in the final stages in the Homo File production and very excited by our progress this week. Working with many types of media is very exciting especially where it is related to how Sam Steward documented and articulated his desire in a social arena that would have preferred to render him invisible.

Ned Brauer as Sam Steward
Photo: Gary Ivanek

One of Steward’s documenting practices of queer sexuality in the 50s was with his Polaroid camera. The photos were a testament to the enormous risks he took during the McCarthy era. His Polaroids were of  particular interest to Alfred Kinsey and The Kinsey Institute For Research in Sex.

The gorgeous Jake models for Steward’s Polaroid series.
Photo: Gary Ivanek

Steward worked as a tattoo artist under the name of Phil Sparrow and ran tattoo shops in Chicago, Milwaukee and Oakland.  He was a tattoo mentor to famed tattoo artists Ed Hardy and Cliff Raven. Tattooing sailors was one of his favorite past times and another way of creating his homoerotic “body of evidence”.  Here we have Homo File lead Ned Brauer as Steward with a tattoo customer.

Ned Brauer as Phil Sparrow, tattoo artist.
Photo: Gary Ivanek

Here is a video of Ed Hardy speaking about Steward.

One of the ways we are experimenting and integrating Steward’s talents in drawing and tattooing is with live drawing by artist Diego Gomez.

Rich Hutchison as sailor in Homo File. Drawing by Diego Gomez

Check out our video for a sneak peek at what we are making.  http://kck.st/P9utau

We open in one week!!