“I’m pretty shy,” photographer Dave McMahon tells Queerty, “so I started by shooting friends and LGBTQ spaces where I felt safe to take pictures.”
“Drag was a big area of interest for me,” he continues. “I was drawn to the strength and power of queer expressions. Ultimately, my goal is to show a spectrum of identities and spaces that reflect the reality of diversity in the world we live in.”
Related: How Mario Diaz Changed Gay Nightlife And Became The Club King
McMahon has been taking photos now for about 11 years, and has accumulated nearly 20,000 followers on Instagram. Much of his work highlights queer nightlife.
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“I think that there is a long history of queer spaces being safe spaces,” he explains. “I went through some pretty rough times in the span of a couple years, dealing with a couple family deaths, a friend’s suicide, surviving abuse, and dealing with depression all the while trying to tell myself that gay was OK. I found a sort of sanctuary in queer nightlife.”
Scroll down for a sampling of McMahon’s work…
Kangol
Nice. It looks like the night life of 20 years ago. An exhibit featuring work by this photographer and queer nightlife predecessors like Nan Goldin, Mark Morrisroe, etc. would be a great idea.
viveutvivas
The photographs are good. The adjective “gritty” made me expect gutter punks and drugs, though.
Herman75
Yeah, it isn’t exactly gritty.
Pinstripe shirt guy looks hot. 🙂
judysdad
Personally am sick of seeing trans and drag everywhere you look.
UncleFloppy
@judysdad: Then don’t look.
JAW
Damn… They look pretty queer
Now I see why they see themselves as queers
Prax07
Why is it Every gay life photoshoot makes it seem like every gay guy out there either wears makeup or is into the drag scene? I don’t know any drag queens, I don’t hang with drag queens, nor does anyone I know. And the last drag show I went to was twenty years ago. Drag does not equate with every guys gay life
bammer47
@Prax07. Check out my Instagram feed for a different / narrower spectrum of what gay life was like from the 1970s til now.
bammer47
@Prax07. Oh, the IG page is also “bammer47”.
Captain Obvious
@bammer47: Cute pics, looks a lot more intriguing than the stuff in the article. Whatever happened to images like that?