Hal Fischer speaks about his semal 1970s-era examatn of the “hanky ” ed to signal sexual preferenc of gay men.
Contents:
- “GAY SEMTICS” REVISED
- HAL FISCHER: GAY SEMTICS
- HAL FISCHER’S GROUNDBREAKG PHOTOS OF GAY LIFE IN SAN FRANCIS FD PERMANENT HOME
- HAL FISCHER: GAY SEMTICS: A PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDY OF VISUAL CODG AMONG HOMOSEXUAL MEN
- HAL FISCHER: GAY SEMTICS
- HAL FISCHER: THE GAY SEVENTI
- GAY SEMTICS
- GAY SEMTICS REVISED
- HAL FISCHER: GAY SEMTICS AND OTHER MAJOR WORKS
“GAY SEMTICS” REVISED
* gay semiotics hal fischer *
In 1977, San Francis photographer Hal Fischer produced his photo-text project Gay Semtics, a semal examatn of the “hanky ” ed to signal sexual preferenc of cisg gay men the Castro district of San Francis.
He also photographed a seri of “gay looks”—om hippie to leather to wboy to jock—wh text that poted out key elements of queer street-style. Bryan-Wilson: What strik me now about Gay Semtics is how nceptual is, how important the photo-text relatnship is.
HAL FISCHER: GAY SEMTICS
Hal Fischer. Gay Semtics. 1977. Inkjet prts, prted 2014. Each 20 × 16" (50.8 × 40.6 cm). Geralde Murphy Fund. 714.2017.1-24. © 2023 Hal Fischer. Portfol. Photography * gay semiotics hal fischer *
Bryan-Wilson: Gay Semtics is an attempt to map some of the disurse of stcturalism onto the visual s of male queer life the Castro.
Bryan-Wilson: In your biblgraphy for Gay Semtics, you ce Walter Benjam, but not Roland Barth. Bryan-Wilson: You’re dog several thgs Gay Semtics.
On the one hand, you’re parsg a signifitn system that arose out of a nonverbal, erotic exchange, and you’re also nstctg gay male self-fashng and photographg “archetyp. There’s fely a fairly homogeno i that’s beg taloged. For both the good and the bad, actually reprented gay male masculy the Castro this time, which was not diverse.
HAL FISCHER’S GROUNDBREAKG PHOTOS OF GAY LIFE IN SAN FRANCIS FD PERMANENT HOME
A Photographic Study of Visual Codg Among Homosexual Men. Published by Cherry and Mart, 2015. Text by Hal Fischer. Hal Fischer's Gay Semtics: A Photographic Study of Visual Codg Among Homosexual Men (1977) is one of the most important publitns... ARTBOOK | D.A.P. Catalog SPRING 2016 Photography Monographs. Distributor Availabily: . ISBN: 9780976184171 * gay semiotics hal fischer *
For stance, the Village People buted 1977, the same year as Gay Semtics, and they embodied but also parodied gay archetyp. I was myself, at that pot, very cril of the gay photographers who were workg the cy.
HAL FISCHER: GAY SEMTICS: A PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDY OF VISUAL CODG AMONG HOMOSEXUAL MEN
Hal Fischer's "Boy-Friends," "Gay Semtics" and "18th St. Near Castro" were acquired by the Krammert Art Mm at the Universy of Illois. * gay semiotics hal fischer *
For stance, Gayle Rub starts her work 1978 at the Castro, studyg and theorizg leather subcultur. Bryan-Wilson: You ma a few projects after Gay Semtics but then stopped takg photographs.
HAL FISCHER: GAY SEMTICS
When Hal Fischer published his wry, straightforward Gay Semtics photographs 1977, he wrote an say to acpany them. “Tradnally wtern societi have utilized signifiers for non-accsibily,” he explaed, cg weddg and engagement rgs. “Signs for availabily simply do not exist.” But gay culture, the reverse is te, he… * gay semiotics hal fischer *
Bryan-Wilson: How do you feel about the way Gay Semtics has been received more recently?
HAL FISCHER: THE GAY SEVENTI
<p><strong>At once humoro, nceptually brilliant and visually enthrallg, the photography of Hal Fischer is gathered here for the first time </strong></p>. Published by Gallery 16 Edns, 2019. Eded by Griff Williams, Troy Peters. Essay by Hal Fischer. Hal Fischer: The Gay Seventi is the first monograph to feature the plete set of photo-text works that Hal Fischer produced... ARTBOOK | D.A.P. Catalog FALL 2019 Photography Monographs. Distributor Availabily: . ISBN: 9780982767177 * gay semiotics hal fischer *
All imag by Hal Fischer om Gay Semtics, 1977© and urty Hal Fischer, and Cherry and Mart, Los Angel. The gay utopia that seemed to beckon 1969 lasted only a , but mt have been wild to be part of the 1970s.
GAY SEMTICS
Bryan-Wilson: Let’s go back to how Gay Semtics has been revised. Bryan-Wilson: Has Gay Semtics bee a rerd of loss and grief regardg HIV/AIDS?
GAY SEMTICS REVISED
Exhibns of the Gay Semtics seri and a reprt of the 1978 monograph renewed tert his art and generated numero articl, published terviews, and reviews. Hal Fischer: The Gay Seventi, which featur his major works, was published by Gallery 16 Edns 2019. Fischer’s 1977 seri Gay Semtics, brought the theori to bear on gay culture San Francis’s Castro and Haight-Ashbury districts.
For stance, imag of men wh handkerchiefs their pockets feature text that explas the possible meangs of the ems acrdg to the “hanky s” that gay men ed to nvey sexual preferenc, but which also pots out that the men uld be rryg them for blowg their nos. Other imag the seri nsir gay fashn, media stereotyp, and BDSM culture. Viewg his famo photographic seri—Gay Semtics (1977), 18th near Castro St.
X 24 (1978), Boy-Friends (1979), and Cheap Chic Homo (1979)— light of earlier work mak clear that Fischer’s ncerns wh portraure, homoeroticism, formal experimentatn, and the tensns between word and image, were prent nascent form at the start of his reer.
HAL FISCHER: GAY SEMTICS AND OTHER MAJOR WORKS
A retrospective view likewise amplifi the viewer’s appreciatn of Fischer’s signature visual w: his imag of gay SM inography document a sexual subculture while also provokg amement.