OUTwatch Film Series Presents a Special Screening of “Hidden Master: The Legacy of George Platt Lynes” May 9 at Rialto Cinemas in Sebastopol

Gary Carnivele April 25, 2024

George Platt Lynes began his career photographing celebrities from the 1930s-50s. It’s those portraits along with his extravagant fashion work that he’s best remembered for today. However, George’s heart, his passion, and his greatest talent lay elsewhere, in his work with the male nude. This work, sensuous and radically explicit for its time, has only recently begun being fully discovered and appreciated for the revolution that it represents – a man capturing his fantasies as a gift, a window to a future his camera saw coming before anyone else. HIDDEN MASTER features a stunning collection of photography uncovering the life of Lynes less known: his gifted eye for the male form, his long term friendships with Gertrude Stein and Alfred Kinsey, and his lasting influence as one of the first openly gay American artists.