GAYLETTER

At Printed Matter’s NY Art Book fair in 2014, a cute little Mickey Aloisio approached our table and immediately complimented our magazine then got right to the point: He had images of men he had been photographing, specifically members of the bear community, and he wanted us to publish them. Subtle! We don’t really take submissions but his photos were refreshing and pretty sexy, so we printed them a year later in GAYLETTER Issue 5. I interviewed Mickey just as he had returned from an excursion along the west coast photographing the many men that make up the bear-community landscape. He told me he wanted to travel across America and photograph as many bears as he could find — he did, and the results are a series that is myriad in tone, but as a whole is totally tender.

He considers himself a member of the bear community, and has recently added his yummy Cub body into some frames, much to our delight. “I think because these guys have found this community, they’re living such a better life than maybe they would be if they were straight and had to deal with their bodies in the straight world.” Signed copies of Mickey’s book will be on sale at the launch on Septmember 8th at BGSQD at The Center and he will be in conversation with curator and writer, Efrem Zeloney-Mindell. When his images went to print in Issue 5, American Wildlife was just starting to take shape.

We’re super stoked for Mickey and all that he’s accomplished in the short two years after graduating from FIT. Congrats boo! Here are some spreads from Mickey’s book American Wildlife:

Suggested $10 donation, 7:00PM-9:00PM, BGSQD @ the Center, 208 W. 13th, room 210. New York, NY.