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‘Permission To Stare’: Peter Berlin’s Groundbreaking Avant-Garde Photography On Full Display In Los Angeles Curated By Russell Tovey

As his self-portraits go on display in Los Angeles, the gay icon talks about sexuality, cruising, and mainstream recognition

The exhibition is curated by actor and Talk Art podcast host Russell Tovey, he recalls his first encounter with Berlin’s work at age 11: “When I saw his photos I thought, Hulk Hogan and He-Man…but with a hard-on. And these are historical documents of a member of our community who lived post-Stonewall, creating that real, beautiful sweet spot where there felt like liberation and joy and hope and freedom of love. “A hero of mine, Derek Jarman, said, ‘If you wait long enough, the world moves in circles,’ and here we are in 2025 in the rhetoric of the government and homophobia and the transphobia that’s appearing across journalism and the censorship that’s going into everything.

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