NewsVoicesArts & EntertainmentCrimeEducationHealthLove & SexPeoplePoliticsSports
    OUTPrideOut TravelerPLUSADVOCATE CHANNEL
    Support UsSubscribeSubscriber ServicesEmail Newsletter Signup
    CONTACTAbout UsCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
    © 2025 Equal Entertainment LLC.
    All Rights reserved
    Advocate.comAdvocate.com

    PHOTOS: High Line Nudes

    Christopher Harrity

    Christopher Harrity is the Manager of Online Production for Here Media, parent company to The Advocate and Out. He enjoys assembling online features on artists and photographers, and you can often find him poring over the mouldering archives of the magazines.
    Christopher Harrity is the Manager of Online Production for Here Media, parent company to The Advocate and Out. He enjoys assembling online features on artists and photographers, and you can often find him poring over the mouldering archives of the magazines.
    Read Full Bio
    Christopher Harrity
    04/11/16
    xtyfr

    Scroll To Top

    By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

    Accept
     
    HIGH LINE NUDES
      • Share using fb
      • Share using tw
      • Share using pt
      • Share using tl
      • Share using em
    • Close sharing options
    • Show sharing options

    &nbsp

    In 2006 photographer Kevin McDermott took three of his friends up on the abandoned railroad tracks that would become New York City’s High Line park to shoot a series of nudes. As McDermott states in the introduction to his book High Line Nudes, “At the time I took these photos, what I sought from its beauty was its sense of isolation, being alone, surrounded by nature in the middle of this metropolis.” A decade later, this location is now one of the most visited tourist destinations in New York City and one of the largest real estate developments in the world.

    Kevin's photos capture the last moments of a certain time. My own experience with what was then the abandoned West Side Highway that ran parallel with the train tracks was in the late '70s. On summer nights you could crawl through the chain-link wall that had been snipped open and climb up the ramp to this wonderful dreamscape in the middle of Manhattan. Folks would be walking carefully around the debris and the holes so big you could fall through them. People sat and talked, smoked dope, and had sex up there. 

    I remember my boyfriend listing the choices for us to go sex-ploring on a summer night: the baths (too hot), Central Park (too dangerous), the piers (too dark, and dangerous), and the West Side Highway. The great thing about the highway is that there was ambient light from the buildings around it at night, and straight people were up there too. There was a democratizing guilt at having crawled past the “no entry” sign, so no one could get all finger-pointy about a nice blow job that happened to be going on as folks walked past. Besides, the sexual revolution was in full swing. It was one of the last wild frontiers of Manhattan.

    The book has a foreword from Joshua David, cofounder of the Friends of the High Line, which is a cool get. From Ten Avenues Press, the book will be available in May and can be preordered here.

    You can see more of Kevin’s amazing work here. And follow Kevin on Facebook here.

    Grid Icon
      
    xtyfr
    close button
    PhotographyNew York CitySlideshow
    xtyfr

    More Galleries

    The incomparable Lady Bunny and her unnamed date
    Drag

    Drag Me to the Catskills: A weekend of camp and comedy in the woods

    May 29 2025 8:30 PM
    Boys! Boys! Boys! podcast: A new voice in queer culture
    Art

    Boys! Boys! Boys! podcast: A new voice in queer culture

    May 01 2025 5:03 PM
    Cobblestones, castles, and culture: Your LGBTQ+ guide to Edinburgh
    Travel

    Cobblestones, castles, and culture: Your LGBTQ+ guide to Edinburgh

    April 30 2025 12:44 PM
    French Polynesia: LGBTQ+ inclusivity beyond expectations
    Travel

    No Pride flags needed in French Polynesia

    April 07 2025 11:16 AM
    Karan Soni stars in "A Nice Indian Boy," in theaters starting April 4
    film

    Out and About with Karan Soni

    April 04 2025 8:00 AM
    Edie © Jane Hilton; Justin Anz, Ranch Hand, Olney, Texas © Jane Hilton; Mirage © Jane Hilton; Pate Meinzer, Cowboy, Benjamin, Texas © Jane Hilton
    Photography

    Jane Hilton's 'Cowboys & Queens' captures the modern American dream

    March 28 2025 6:27 PM