BOB OF SCOTLAND
Tom Of Finland this is not! Bob Of Scotland explores the feminine side of the gay male psyche.
Tom Of Finland this is not! Bob Of Scotland’s photography explores the feminine side of the gay male psyche.
This morning I was awoken at 4:23 to an Instagram message from Bob Of Scotland, the photographer, artist and activist, in which he kindly agreed to an interview. What a curious hour to be responding to messages, I thought, from my locked down home in London, given he is supposedly in the same time zone as me, somewhere in Scotland. I quickly learn the error of that assumption.
Bob started his career as an oil painter, making large paintings of houses and landscapes. “They were pretty repressed paintings, with obviously phallic lighthouses and ship masts from my hometown of Boston,” he says.
This all changed when he visited the Tom Of Finland Foundation House in LA, after moving to California at the age of 25. “That day changed my life. The House is full of his drawings and a diverse collection of erotic art collected from around the world. The library awoke in me a desire to explore my own desires and longings that has continued to this day.”
Tom may have inspired Bob to pursue a career depicting queer subjects but the similarities end there. While Tom Of Finland’s drawings are an orgasm of muscle men, with bulges to match, Bob Of Scotland’s photographs are more often a delicate exploration of the feminine side of queer men, in all the beautiful shapes and sizes we come in. Think less denim and leather, more lace and feather.
I hope my art can play a role in initiating conversations about redefining masculinity and gender inclusivity…
Bob’s work is part of the wider queer movement that is attempting to subvert traditional ideas of masculinity. He cites James Bidgood, Pierre Commoy and Gilles Blanchard as key inspirations, all of whom produced ethereal photographs of queer men that could easily have been lifted from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Drag has also been a huge influence. “Another defining moment in my life was attending RuPaul’s DragCon in Los Angeles for the first time. I remember feeling so inspired by the creativity of everyone attending and just wanting to capture the incredible uniqueness of the outfits, make-up, and queer aesthetic. It’s a beautiful experience to be a part of that community and attending each year has encouraged me to pursue making art that reflects this vibrancy. It is a huge movement with so many young people that seems to just get bigger every year.”
There is no denying Bob’s images can often be somewhat jarring, and quietly radical.
As gay men, our lives are saturated with stereotypical depictions of masculinity: steroid pumped pecs resting perfectly on a stack of abs, which draw the eye down to the scant clothes hiding what we all want to see. And through our social media, be that Instagram, Tumblr or Grindr, we are increasingly bombarded with identical images of the ideal form of a “masculine” man. Indeed, Bob also found this on his visit to the Tom Of Finland museum, where he remembers wondering, “Why do all these men in his drawings look so similar?
And more importantly, why don’t I look like that?!”
Numerous studies have specifically pointed to how such depictions have contributed to a surge in body dissatisfaction in gay men; eating disorders, body dysmorphia, and strict exercise and diet regimens have increased in our community in recent years. By choosing to depict a wide range of presentations, aesthetic sensibilities and ethnic backgrounds, frequently clothed in lace and lingerie, Bob’s images are a subtle subversion of this traditional image of masculinity.
“It is so hard to not be complicit in some way,” says Bob. “However, I do make a conscious and good faith effort to consider how my images might be received when I put them out in public spaces to be viewed… In a small way, I hope that my art can play a role in initiating conversations about redefining masculinity, gender inclusivity in the LGBTQ community, and ways to expand opportunities for queer visibility.”
This isn’t to say that social media is all doom and gloom. Bob cites Instagram as a key resource that has facilitated his career. “The larger technological, social, political and economic context surrounding photography and art making changes faster than you can say ‘Shantay, you stay’.
“Look how much the world has changed in just the last few weeks! For me, I think that the ability to connect very quickly with fellow creators and queer individuals through Instagram has been enormously helpful. I still remember the days before Facebook when it was so much more difficult to figure out where to find other artists. The queer world is literally at your fingertips nowadays.”
Further to this, the MeToo movement was also largely amplified through social media. The famous Vogue photographers
>> Mario Testino and Bruce Weber both faced allegations of sexual assault from younger male models, many of whom used Instagram to disclose their experiences. Bob credits the MeToo movement with changing not just the environment of photography, but exactly how images are created.
“There is a larger appreciation and understanding given to establishing equitable and creatively comfortable relationships between photographer and model. I always try to spend time with each model to get to know each other and learn about what they are interested in as an artist and individual. It’s so important to collaborate together and mutually co-create the final product. This elevates the project beyond what each person could do individually.”
In the last year, Bob has worked with some incredible queer figures including Dahlia Sin, Küper Liotta and Manilla Luzon, which begs the question, where will he go next (once lockdown lets him)?
“I think the timing of this interview is incredibly relevant given the larger context of global protests against racial injustice, police brutality, and the health disparities revealed by the covid-19 outbreak. It certainly is a time of reckoning for all individuals no matter what industry you work in to reflect upon how systemic inequalities function to keep communities of colour disenfranchised.
“When the dust settles from these global demonstrations and it is finally safe to get out of our houses and living rooms again, I can’t wait to get back to reconnecting with my fellow queer community to see how we can channel some of this energy into much needed changes. Now is the time to listen to each other, empower those who have been left behind, and draw upon our creative visionary capacities to co-create a world that we want to live in. “A summer vacation would be nice, as well!” Given the 2020 that the US is going through, I think he deserves one. •
Now is the time to listen to each other, empower those who have been left behind, and co-create a world we want to live in.