I stopped traveling completely,” he said, adding that he “dreaded” the trip prior to arrival. “I don’t have friends [here] anymore who are alive.” Berlin’s photographic project is arguably closer to performance art, in that the act of cruising in his elaborate getups was the point of his ambitious pursuits. The expertly composed and printed photographs, gorgeous art objects in and of themselves, are ultimately records of his sexually pointed happenings. Anderson, James: "Peter Berlin Sixty-Something German Artist From San Francisco Spent His Entire Life Getting Laid", BUTT Magazine, Summer, 2004 I never had sex in any of those places. I went for being seen and seen. I'm so shy that you would never have seen me having sex. Sex was for me a very intimate, private thing.

He spoke about being an icon to so many in the gay community, saying it surprised him to hear how much of an influence he’s had on men’s lives. That Man: Peter Berlin had its world premiere at the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival and was an official selection of over 65 film festivals, including the Seattle, Chicago, Palm Springs, Rio, and Durban International Film Festivals. In January 2006, the documentary opened theatrically to great acclaim. A Special Edition DVD was released by Water Bearer Films. In addition, That Man: Peter Berlin is available for streaming on Vimeo On Demand and Fandor. At the Mine Shaft, did you sprawl out in the famous bathtub and get urinated on, perchance? That was a common occurrence there.It’s a real celebration of queer sexuality,” said Thomas Cawson, creative director of Helmut Lang, of Berlin’s influence. “Celebrating a totally queer language of what streetwear looks like. Everything we do at Helmut, there’s always that undercurrent of referencing those iconic, underground moments. Especially when there is that beautiful queer twist to it.” I told Sherie about the Lombard/Hawn comparisons and she grinningly replied, "My hairdresser will love that! And I love that no one under 50 will know who Carole Lombard is. 'Which talk show host is that?'" Hey, I will gladly educate them one by one, about Carole, Peter Berlin, Stonewall, and my childhood. Although he retreated from the limelight in the 1980s, he continues to make videos of himself and lives quietly in San Francisco, where he is still frequently recognized on the streets. With his trademark Dutchboy haircut, Tom of Finland physique, and oh-so-tight trousers, Peter Berlin was the poster boy for the hedonistic and sexually-liberated 1970s. Jim Tushinski’s fascinating, sexy, and ultimately touching documentary, That Man: Peter Berlin, traces Berlin's story over the past 40 years, from his birth in wartime Germany to his current life in San Francisco, and shows the human being behind the icon. Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

As directed by Chapman, Ryan Walter and Bobby Goodrich are well cast and truly terrific in those roles, and the other actors score as notable figures in Glenn/Divine's life, like quirky auteur Waters, excitable manager Bernard Jay, and various boy toys angling for their place in the sun. There's ultimately too much angst and screaming, but Divine/Intervention does a strong job of probing Divine's dark side and exploring the real feelings behind the false lashes. Berlin designed and sewed all of his clothing without a pattern. He also was a painter and illustrator. He began photographing himself in erotic poses and making skin-tight clothes to wear as he cruised the parks and train stations of Berlin, and the streets of Rome, Paris, New York and San Francisco. Many of his designs are now seen in the fashion works of such international designers such as Jean Paul Gaultier. [ citation needed] Filmmaking and celebrity [ edit ] Every morning, I wake up and say to myself, "Do something." I'm not doing a thing, actually, for decades. I'm very much using my head and I'm entertained by my own brain. I'm not very happy with my life because I feel I'm wasting my time, but I'm not so unhappy that I do anything about it. Life is actually very simple. We lost that compass of decency, normality, and beauty. We are all running after money and fame. I can't take it seriously. That's why I haven't done anything in years. But I don't feel good about it. Berlin’s cultural contributions were so many decades ahead of his time and so unique—not fitting cleanly into either the world of art or the world of pornography—that understanding their relevance and impact requires the invention of a new terminology. I propose the word photosexuality and aim to make the case that Berlin was the first acclaimed male photosexual and the leading pioneer of its practice. As I see it, photosexuality is a contemporary mainstream sexuality in which erotic self-portraiture—the documentation of one’s own sex acts and the private and public distribution of those images—is intertwined so completely with one’s sex life that it becomes as important as the sex acts themselves and, in some cases, even more important. Armin Hagen Freiherr von Hoyningen-Huene (28 December 1942) is a German-American photographer, artist, filmmaker, clothing designer/sewer, and model best known by his stage name Peter Berlin. In the early to mid-1970s. [1]

For Peter Berlin, art is life and life is art. He has been called both “the Bettie Page of beefcake” and “the Greta Garbo of gay porn” as a definitive gay sex icon of the 1970s and 1980s. For many, he brought artistic legitimacy to gay erotica with his artfully composed self-portraits.

It just happened. My life happened, it was not me having a vision, when I started to photograph myself that’s how it started. A friend said, ‘Oh Peter maybe you should just show it’ and he had a gallery in Berlin and he put it on the wall and that’s where it started to be public. And then of course I made two films because I met this guy in San Francisco and he had a camera, and he said you know let’s make a porno. Because that’s the only thing I was so obsessed with: sex.” More naked young men join the photo shoot; they adore Berlin as he stands on a podium like a statue while the camera continues to flash. “I want to take pictures of them watching you,” the cameraman exclaims. “I want my camera to hold you all. To capture every one of you in its fine lens.” The climax of the scene has no penetrative sex or ejaculation. It ends with a slideshow of imagery hitting a rapid-fire pace. The erotic thrust of the scene is not traditional, not solely based on men’s enjoyment of each other’s bodies. It favors the camera’s actions and outcomes over penetrative sex or climax. Much more than just a simple pornographic film, through the lens of history, That Boy can now be understood as a photosexual manifesto. Peter Berlin was born December 28, 1942, in German-occupied Łódź, Poland, but he grew up in an aristocratic family in Berlin, Germany. He is the second of the three children. [2] [3] The extended family included the Russian American 1920s and 1930s fashion photographer George Hoyningen-Huene.

This whole thing amazes me,” he said. “I stopped living, basically — I don’t do anything anymore. I only use my time to think. I love thinking, and trying to figure out stuff. I try to think ‘why did I do why I did?’ My mind is very entertained. Usually people either bore me, or annoy me, so I’m by myself, right? And it’s sort of a luxury.” Peter Berlin grew up in Berlin in the 1940s and 1950s. He studied photography and his first job was working for the fashion photography journal, VIP Shaukel. This “ordinary life,” however, did not last long. A Dorian Gray-type character, Berlin once caught sight of his own reflection in a shop window in Paris; mistaking his own face for that of another and believed he had found true love. Of course, even then, the relationship between sex and the camera was far from new. Since its inception, the camera had been used to document the beauty and wonderment of the naked human form. What was new about Peter’s approach was that it was an independent enterprise. He wasn’t a muse for another artist or a model for a pornographer; nor was he a sex symbol produced by a film studio, like Garbo, Brando, or Monroe. He didn’t wait for an adoring and powerful benefactor to hand him the capitalist machinery of star production. As an out gay man, such tools were only available to his counterparts who had agreed to remain closeted for the purpose of becoming cultural icons. Berlin, on the other hand, valued himself and his sexuality with such militant pride that he took his identity into his own hands and became his own muse. “I wanted to turn myself into the type of man I wished I would see on the streets,” he has said as a way of explaining his style. Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

Peter Berlin was the subject of several Robert Mapplethorpe photographs, four drawings by Tom of Finland, and at least one portrait by Andy Warhol, attesting to his worldwide celebrity. Aside from his role in the sexual revolution helping make gay men and gay sexuality more visible to the public at large, Berlin was responsible for the definition of many gay archetypes which persist today, while contributing to the achievement of artistic legitimacy for erotic gay subject matter, in general. When you're living in that era, you take it as normal and nothing special. When I was part of Studio 54, everyone was running there. There were big lines outside, and [co-owner] Steve Rubell was standing on some kind of pedestal to look over the adoring people. He said, "Peter you don't have to be in line." I was ushered in. Jonny is extremely personable and generous. In fact, after a Flaming Saddles bartender hopped atop the bar to do some elaborate two-stepping, he didn't think twice about handing the guy a five dollar tip. "He really did amazing stuff up there," Jonny told me, "plus before we were anything, he used to work at Mother Burger [an HK restaurant], and I'd go to him to get fed. He'd give me a free burger because I was hungry." Anyone who hands out food to future stars and can also dance up a gay storm on a bar deserves a shot at President, in my opinion. If he also knows who Peter Berlin is, he can definitely be my next husband.