David and Earl

David and Earl, San Francisco, 1976

This photograph was taken for the book "Men Loving Men" published in 1977 by Gay Sunshine Press.

This is an archival gelatin silver print made in 2024 from a 1976 4 x5" Plus-X pan negative

This photograph is signed on verso by David Greene and numbered 5 of 15

The image is 8" x 10" on 11" x 14" paper, unframed

This photograph is in the following collections:

Collection Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, New York City, collection Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (Adrian bequest) - Also included in the book "Treasures of Gay Art from the Leslie/Lohmam Gay Art Foundation" published by All Saints Press, 2008

Note from David Greene:

In 1976, Gay Sunshine Press commissioned me to shoot a photo essay for the book “Men Loving Men” by Mitch Walker, which was published in 1977. I made more than a dozen photographs for the book, including this photograph of David and Earl.

In 1978 the photograph of David and Earl appeared on the cover of Gay Sunshine magazine. Chicago Daily News art critic Dennis Adrian purchased a print, which he later included in the collection of art that he gave to the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art—and so this photograph is among the earliest pieces in that museum’s permanent collection.

Later the Leslie Lohman Gay Art Foundation acquired a print for their permanent collection. This photograph is also included in their book Treasures of Gay Art, published in 2010.

When my photographic exhibit, called Shameless opened at the Alfred Stieglitz gallery in New York in 1976, this photograph was part of the exhibit. One of the men in the photo, Earl, who provides the beautiful backside, came to the opening in New York. He wore a black leather jacket with a copy of the photograph taped to the back of his jacket with an arrow point down to his rear end. Since his face is not shown in the photograph, he wanted to be sure that everyone at the gallery opening recognized his part in it.