• Log in
    PoliticsBusinessA&ETransgenderBisexualityReligionFamiliesVoicesVideo
    OUTPrideOut TravelerPLUSADVOCATE CHANNEL
    SubscribeSubscriber ServicesEmail Newsletter Signup
    CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
    © 2023 Pride Publishing Inc.
    All Rights reserved
    Advocate.comAdvocate.com

    PHOTOS: The Unexpected Beauty of George Dureau

    Christopher Harrity
    07/01/16
    Scroll To Top

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

    Accept

    Above: George Dureau, BJ Robinson, 1983

    George Dureau, BJ Robinson, 1983

    In 2012, Higher Pictures in New York exhibited a selection of George Dureau's photographs of New Orleans locals shot between 1973 and 1986. Dureau traveled in the high art world but also allowed his work to be displayed in the legendary leather-S/M magazine Drummer. That exhibit, thankfully, sparked renewed interest in Dureau’s work, which led to a new monograph, George Dureau: The Photographs, published by Aperture in June of this year. 

    While Dureau’s early subjects were largely young black men, he also photographed locals from the street, many of whom had physical abnormalities. Roberta Smith wrote in a 2012 exhibition review at Higher Pictures, “Mr. Dureau’s subjects have an individuality, vulnerability and intensely personal gravity that Mapplethorpe’s more objectified models often lack.”

    On the obvious link to Robert Mapplethorpe, Claude J. Summers had this to say: “Dureau's photographs have often been compared with those of Robert Mapplethorpe. But the influence runs not from Mapplethorpe to Dureau but from Dureau to Mapplethorpe. The photographers were friends in the early 1970s. Mapplethorpe was greatly moved by Dureau's photographs, even to the point of restaging many of Dureau's earlier compositions. For all their similarities, however, the photographs of Dureau and Mapplethorpe are quite different. Whereas Mapplethorpe exhibits his subjects as cool and objective, self-contained and remote icons, Dureau presents his as exposed and vulnerable, playful and needy, complex and entirely human individuals. The difference is foremost a matter of empathy.”

    For an in-depth interview with Dureau, we recommend Jack Fritscher's "Mapplethorpe: Assault With a Deadly Camera." On his site you can download a PDF of the interview with Dureau talking about his relationship with Mapplethorpe.

    The Aperture site has more information, and there is an exhibit coming in the fall at Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans.

    Photograph © George Dureau, Courtesy Arthur Roger Gallery and Higher Pictures 

    close button
    Photography
    Replay Gallery

    More Galleries

    ONE Archives
    Pride
    Badge
    gallery

    13 Vintage Photos of Los Angeles's Queer Pride from ONE Archives

    18h
    Shows to watch in June
    Arts & Entertainment
    Badge
    gallery

    15 LGBTQ+ TV Shows and Movies to Watch in June

    19h
    Christopher Briney and Gavin Casalegno
    television
    Badge
    gallery

    9 First-Look Photos of 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' Season 2

    June 01 2023 7:00 PM
    Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey’s Gay Romance 'Fellow Travelers' Gets Teaser
    television
    Badge
    gallery

    Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey’s Gay Romance 'Fellow Travelers' Gets Teaser

    June 01 2023 5:00 PM
    LGBTQ Pride Flags
    Pride
    Badge
    gallery

    36 Queer Pride Flags You Should Know

    June 01 2023 4:01 PM
    Ayo Edebiri, Sofia Coppola, and Julio Torres
    film
    Badge
    gallery

    NewFest Pride Reveals Lineup for its 3rd Annual Summer Film Series

    June 01 2023 2:30 PM