Pink Sauce

The following piece appeared in PinkNews.co.uk and was later picked up by i . The Daily Mail, there’s a surprise, is leading the charge against Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg about the supposed “fury” at the use of the word “bigots” in a draft speech to describe opponents of marriage equality. The offending word has now been replaced by “some people”. The new version of the speech was delivered last night at a celebrity-studded event marking the end of the consultation on proposals to extend civil marriage to same-sex couples. Lord Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury, is quoted in the Mail as saying that “many Christians and non-Christians […] will be highly offended to be called bigots” adding that they “should not be treated in such a way”. While he stops short of making his usual deluded claim that Christians are persecuted in the UK, this is clearly the subtext here. He also has the gall to claim that he is “totally for equality” while in the same breath saying that sam...

On Saturday I had decided to spend some time wandering around Vauxhall with a friend. After meeting at the RVT, we walked across the Pleasure Gardens, having recently seen an exhibition on the former attracts that used to stand on the site. After a quick look at the animals of the Vauxhall City Farm and a cup of tea in a local greasy spoon, we moved back towards the river. As we were passing an anonymous office block, I noticed a couple of sign on the pavement advertising an exhibition of photographic portraits. After some hesitation we decided that the images must be on display inside that office block which looked abandoned. We walked in and were informed that the exhibition of 200 images was indeed using the 21 floors of the empty building. The exhibition is organised by The Photographic Angle , a charity that "holds free exhibitions that travel across the UK transforming otherwise empty spaces into temporary galleries". We took the lift directly to the top floor o...

I have been asked by one of my contacts, who is a journalist, to answer a few questions as a French gay in London for an idea he wants to pitch to an editor. Some of these I found difficult to answer, as will be obvious by the brevity of my answers. I have no idea if and where it's going to be used, so I thought I would share it here anyway, in case anyone is interested. Update: A version of this interview has now been published on Têtu's blog . 1) How was growing up in Dijon? Although I was born and later I went to uni there, I didn't actually grow up in Dijon but in a big village some 50km away. My childhood was fairly uneventful if somewhat untypical for a country kid. Fairly early it became apparent that I was different and although the other kids weren't nasty about it they weren't all that welcoming either.  Soon as I learnt to read, I took refuge in books, reading more or less any novel that came my way. I only really looked up when I got to Uni, over...

Following my shoot in Brighton in June, Mark , the model, introduced me to one of his friends, the lovely Richard, to have a similar treatment inflicted on him. Last Saturday, we finally met for a few hours of fun. Without access to an practical enclosed space, the shoot was in the urban wilds of Waterloo. I had made a quick reconnaissance the week before for what was my first proper shoot alone with a model. Just us, the clothes (some), the light (whatever Mother Nature would give us) and the location... Oh and my camera! While not being outstanding, the results were quite satisfactory. After the initial stiffness, we soon relaxed enough to create a varied set of images of decent quality. The feedback I got from fellow photographers and friends was quite encouraging. The added fun to the day was to get a straight guy to take his top off, put on eyeliner and eye shadow, and wear pearls. And kudos to him for letting himself be queered with such good grace. The images can be view...