Hard to Imagine: Gay Male Eroticism in Photography and Film from Their Beginnings to Stonewall

Waugh's well illustrated study explores the relationship between performances of homosexuality in photography and film and the culture at large. His writings draw together everyone from Wilhem Von Gloeden to Robert Mapplethorpe, fleshing out a long thriving underground movement, rich with history and tradition.

The history of gay male erotic images is largely undocumented. Even when the material has been available, "good taste" and "common decency"--those concepts used to stop all talk about sex--have prevented their display. Thomas Waugh's full-length, profusely illustrated study is a breakthrough book that has information and analysis enough for three books. Thoughtful, smart, and well-written, Hard to Imagine uncovers a visual history of gay male eroticism that few know. It chronicles the complicated history of homosexual desire and how it has been depicted and repressed.