Stanley Stellar Explained

Stanley Stellar (born 1945)^[1] is an American photographer, living in Manhattan, who has photographed gay men in the West Village there since 1976.^{[2] [3]} His work is included in the collection of Harvard Art Museums,^[4] as well as in the Artifacts at the End of a Decade portfolio, a copy of which is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.^[1] Stanley Stellar is represented by Kapp Kapp, New York.^[5]

Life and work

Stellar was born in New York City, growing up in Brooklyn in the 1950s and 1960s.^[6] He studied graphic design and photography at Parsons School of Design in New York City^[2] then began working as art director at Art Direction, an advertising agency.^[3]

In 1976, Stellar purchased a professional camera and began photographing the gay scene on the streets of Manhattan's West Village including Christopher Street, and on the Christopher Street Pier where men cruised for sex.^[3]

Publications

Books of work by Stellar

• The Beauty of All Men, Photographs 1976–2011. All Saints, 2011. .
• Into the Light: Photographs of the NYC Gay Pride Day from the 70s Till Today. Bruno Gmuender, 2018. .

Collections

Stellar's work is held in the following permanent collections:

• Harvard Art Museums, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts: 1 print (as of 5 September 2022)^[4]
• Museum of Modern Art, New York: 1 photograph, part of Artifacts at the End of a Decade (as of 5 September 2022)^{[1] [6]}

Films

• Stanley Stellar: Here For This Reason (2019) – Short Stories (HuffPost and RYOT Films); short film written and directed by Eric Leven^[7]

See also

• Alvin Baltrop
• Leonard Fink

External links

• • "Artifacts at the End of a Decade ‘Stanley Stellar’ (Dazed Digital Cut)" (4 minute video at Vimeo)

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2022-09-05. Stanley Stellar - MoMA. The Museum of Modern Art.
2. Web site: 2022-09-05. Bio. stellarnyc.com.
3. Web site: Miss. Rosen. 2022-09-05. Cruising at Christopher Street Pier: New York's fabled sex playground of the 70s. I-D.
4. Web site: 2022-09-05. Harvard Art Museums. harvardartmuseums.org.
5. Web site: Stellar . Stanley . Stanley Stellar on KAPP KAPP, New York . 2024-07-01 . KAPP KAPP . en.
6. Web site: 2022-09-05. Photos of the free, fun spirit of LGBTQ+ New York in the 1970s. 26 July 2021. Dazed.
7. Web site: 2022-09-05. How One Man's 'Innocent Picture Snapping' Became A Massive Archive Of Gay Life In New York. 19 June 2019. HuffPost.