Kings in Their Castles: Photographs of Queer Men at Home

by Tom Atwood and Charles Kaiser

Kings in Their Castles, a collective portrait of the gay urban community in America, offers a personal view of some of our leading artists, writers, filmmakers, composers, musicians, and designers. Among the celebrities Atwood photographs in their playful, revealing homes are Edward Albee, Todd Oldham, John Waters, Ross Bleckner, Joel Schumacher, Junior Vasquez, Michael Cunningham, Simon Doonan, Andrew Solomon, Ned Rorem, James Dale, David...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0299211509
• ISBN13: 9780299211509
• Release Date: September 2005
• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
• Length: 92 Pages
• Weight: 3.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 10.0" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

Nice!

Gorgeous portraits - full of emotion and complexity. I originally bought this book because I was interested in the fashion celebs - Todd Oldham, As Four, Simon Doonan, John Bartlett, etc, but all the other celebrities in the book - John Waters, Edward Albee, Michael Cunninham - certainly don't hurt, either.

Photography/Gay interest/Interiors HOMERUN

A compelling, gorgeous book - totally unique. Gay and straight readers alike will be captivated by the interior images so beautifully displayed in this newly published addition to the photography genre. While by no means a book on interior design, the spaces depicted will be a source of fascination to readers who delight in viewing interesting homes. The human subjects, too, are intriguing. Alternately calm and kooky, they don't dominate the photographs, but are essential to the composition. A thrilling read. (Or, rather, experience.)

Fantastic

So refreshing to see a gay photography book that is thoughful, insightful, not obsessed with young bodies, and at the same time absolutely gorgeous.

Clutter Grouped Equals Art?

The photographer Tom Atwood writes in his "Artist's Statement" that he wanted to do a book of color photos of clothed gay men in New York who live in apartments. The photographs should balance both the portrait of the individual with his environment. He describes this book as a "miscellaneous catalogue of personalities and living spaces." The models come from a variety of professions: writers, artists, composers, designers, interior decorators, attorneys-- John Waters, Edmund White, Ned Rorem, John Ashbery, Edward Albee et al. Most of them are collectors of practically any and everything: books, crosses, musical instruments, paintings, photographs, porcelain poodles, wigs, etc. Some of the subjects arrange their "stuff" well while others do not. I could not be in Joe Holtzman's kitchen (p. 42) for more than five minutes without jumping out the window. On the other hand, the apartment of Eric Bernhoft and Peter Mintun (p. 15) is most inviting. The photographer in 70 frames or so manages not to repeat himself at all or even come anywhere close to repeating himself, no small feat. Some of my favorites are that of Billy Basinski (p. 64) where the model is seated on a sofa in front of floor-to-ceiling windows with beautiful light streaming in, Andrew Solomon (p. 61) in a beautiful but claustrophobic shot and Christophe Le Gorju (p. 39) where the model is standing to one side of a window which makes a beautiful Modrian-like grid. The most unusual living space has to be that of Tobi Wong (p. 31) which is described as being an eight by nine foot apartment. A friend of mine used to say that regardless of how diverse the objects were, that you could hang anything together on a wall so long as you grouped them. This book of very fine photographs perfectly illustrates that theory.