Allen Frame: Fever

ALLEN FRAME MOVED TO NEW YORK IN 1977 AND BEGAN TO PHOTOGRAPH FRIENDS FROM HIS COLLEGE DAYS AND OTHERS HE WAS MEETING. BY 1981, HE HAD A CIRCLE OF ARTIST FRIENDS THAT HE PHOTOGRAPHED IN HIS APARTMENT, THEIR STUDIOS, ON BEACHES, AND ON THE STREETS OF NEW YORK, INCLUDING ARTISTS WHO BECAME WELL-KNOWN LATER, SUCH AS DARREL ELLIS, NAN GOLDIN, FRANK MOORE, CADY NOLAND, AND ROBERT GOBER.

THOUGH FRAME HAD PREVIOUSLY WORKED MOSTLY IN BLACK AND WHITE, IN 1981, HE PHOTOGRAPHED EXTENSIVELY WITH COLOR. IN AN ARTICLE ON THIS WORK IN THE WINTER 2021 ISSUE OF APERTURE, BRENDAN EMBSER WRITES:

“HE USED AVAILABLE LIGHT, GENTLE OCHRES AND GREENS, THE FAINT SHADE OF BLUE WHEN SKY IS INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM WATER. HE COMPOSED HIS FRAMES WITH BEGUILING PRECISION, WITH JUST-OFF SYMMETRY AND SPLIT-SCREEN SCENES DEMARCATED BY PAINTINGS OR DOORJAMBS.”

AT THE END OF THE BOOK, FRAME INTERVIEWS EIGHT OF THE ARTISTS WHO ARE STILL LIVING ABOUT THAT PERIOD IN NEW YORK. AS HE NOTES IN HIS ESSAY,

“MANY OF THE MEN IN THESE PICTURES DIED OF AIDS: BILL, CHARLIE, DARREL, DAN, COCO, JOHN WEST, FRANK MOORE, TOM REEDER, BOB APPLEGARTH. IT IS HEARTBREAKING TO CONTEMPLATE THEM. WE WERE FULL OF JOY AND HOPEFULNESS ABOUT OUR LIVES, ABOUT WHAT WE WOULD ACCOMPLISH CREATIVELY, ABOUT OUR CLOSE-KNIT RELATIONSHIPS. FOR ALL OF US, FINDING LIKE-MINDED FRIENDS AND LOVERS IN A CITY WITH SO MANY POSSIBILITIES LIKE NEW YORK WAS SOMETHING WE HAD YEARNED FOR. IN 1981, AIDS HAD NOT YET ENTERED OUR LIVES DIRECTLY, THOUGH WE HAD READ THE FIRST REPORTS OF ITS APPEARANCE. WITHIN A FEW YEARS, WE WERE ALL PART OF ITS DEVASTATION.”

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