Dear Patron,
Today I am sharing more photographs from last summer of me and Ben, in front of a soft-pastel backdrop I drew. The square photos are from my Rolleiflex film camera, and the rectangle photographs are digital. I am also sharing the letter I wrote to print club subscribers for July !
I created the Pan’s Peony mail club because I wanted an alternative to showing my work outside of social media’s dome of influence. Anyone reading this may be aware of the latest controversy surrounding Butt magazine and Instagram’s challenging rules about what we are allowed to show. These rules are both homophobic and confusing. So I’m turning back the clock and embracing a form that photography rarely takes these days: printed media.
I want Pan’s Peony—both the print club and the digital journal—to be a place where gay men can feel comfortable expressing their sexuality in ways that are about more than orgasms. After all, as we know, queer life has significantly more to offer than just hot sex—though we like that too. There is friendship, knowledge, culture, and alternative ways of building community and imagining lives beyond simple binaries: male or female, married or unmarried, children or no children. I want to explore more, and I’m hoping this newsletter will be a place where people can feel empowered to do that.
I don’t know about you, but lately I’ve felt an uptick in cultural conservatism in America. So many young gay men are complaining about hookup culture, while young people more broadly seem to be returning to “the church”—a place that has historically been hostile to gay people. As annoying as it was to see corporate branding sprayed with rainbow-colored jizz every June a few years ago, seeing these same companies back away from even that support has made me curious about the future.
I’ve spent my life creating photographs that I hoped would make a difference in the world, and in some small way, I hope that Pan’s Peony can be a cheeky, quiet little place where anyone who is interested can feel welcome to join, participate, and awaken to the promises that gay life can offer, if given the chance.
Thank you for joining, and have a wonderful week!
x
Matthew