#james bidgood

[gayartists]

Bobby Kendall (ca. 1960), James Bidgood

[gayfilmgeek]

Pink Narcissus (1971) dir. James Bidgood

[ed-blog4]

THE YOUNG PHYSIQUE, vintage gay magazine covers

[pierppasolini]

Pink Narcissus (1971) // dir. James Bidgood

[itwasmeanttobr]

Bobby Kendall in Pyjamas on Swan Bed (from "Pink Narcissus"), 1960s

[tyger-land]

Still photographs (c. 1963-1970) created by filmmaker James Bidgood during development of his 1971 experimental art piece Pink Narcissus.

[bitter69uk]

Born on this day: pioneering homoerotic filmmaker, photographer and undisputed “filth elder” James Bidgood (28 March 1933 – 31 January 2022). His crowning achievement is Pink Narcissus (1971), which I’ll always associate with London’s long-defunct, much-missed Scala Cinema. It’s one of the essential homoerotic classicks (sic) of underground cinema (alongside Jean Genet’s Un chant d’amour (1950), Kenneth Anger’s Scorpio Rising (1963) and Andy Warhol’s My Hustler (1965)) all homosexualists should see at least once. Simultaneously avant-garde and kitsch, for Bidgood Pink Narcissus represented an obsessive labour of love: shot on 8mm on a shoe-string budget, seven years in production (from 1963 to 1970), all filmed entirely within the confines of his own compact Manhattan apartment (even the “exterior” street scenes). The hot neon shocking pink and blue-hued photography is exquisite (it seemingly heavily influenced the camp sensibility of French pop art duo Pierre et Gilles). Pink Narcissus ensures Bidgood artistic immortality. (Pink Narcissus has recently undergone a 4k restoration, so it should look more gorgeous – and closer to Bidgood’s vision – than ever before). Pictured: the photo “Apache” by James Bidgood, circa 1964-1966. The model: Tommy Coombs.

[myboyfriendx]

Bobby Kendall