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Cruising
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Reviewed by Adam Bell, published on Thursday, October 13, 2011
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Chad States Cruising
Photographs by Chad States
powerHouse Books, New York, 2011. Hardbound. 100 pp., 80 color illustrations, 12-1/2x11-3/4".
Cruising Photographs by Chad States Published by powerHouse Books, 2011.
"Move past the clearing, over the hill and enter along a faint path. Keep moving forward into woods and make a right when you see the cluster of bushes - meet me there..."


Chad State's Cruising explores the secret, and not so secret, sites where gay men meet for anonymous sexual encounters. Mostly hidden in plain view, the parks and rest areas frequented by these men are on the outskirts of the everyday world, cloaked by branches and coded signals. Never sensationalistic or merely erotic, States work intimately draws the viewer into this secret world through furtive glances and secluded paths - coaxing us (willingly or unwillingly) into the act of cruising.
Cruising, by Chad States. Published by powerHouse Books, 2011.

Photography has always been a voyeuristic art. The camera gives license to stare, linger and steal the world around us. This is the reason photography is so closely linked with the erotic. While there is a lot of work that deals with voyeurism and sex, Kohei Yoshiyuki's The Park is the best precedent for States' work. Shot at night using infrared film in public parks in Japan, Yoshiyuki captures couples (both gay and straight) in sexual embrace, as well as the spectators who congregate around them, and often try and join in. Whereas Yoshiyuki's work has a sense of frenzied participation, States' work feels more restrained - the images of a voyeur rather than a participant. Photographed during the daytime, branches and foliage obscure male figures - both clothed and unclothed - hopefully waiting or locked in excited embrace.
Cruising, by Chad States. Published by powerHouse Books, 2011.

The book begins outside the woods, but we are quickly drawn into the trees. The pictures take us along secret paths where we pass couples in embrace; single figures waiting and faint paths that diverge in the forest. Interwoven with the images are pages with subtle white text. Easy to miss at first, the texts, which are taken from online information boards about these sites, are crucial to the book. Like a whisper, the lines lure us into the woods - inviting us to move closer, stare and participate. Remarkably, Cruising is much more than a document about these sites, the people who visit them or activities that take place there. Through careful editing, thoughtful design and inventive use of text, we are drawn into this world and forced to look, stare and linger in the bushes.
Cruising, by Chad States. Published by powerHouse Books, 2011.

Accompanying the images is a nice interview with States conducted by Alec Soth (who published an excerpt from this work in Lonely Boy Magazine #2) about the project and an essay by Gordon Brent Ingram that investigates the sociological history of these sites and the culture that surrounds them. The overall design of the book is very good - from the excellent, and erotically suggestive, cover to the careful sequencing of images. In some ways, it might be easy for some to dismiss this book based on it sexual content, but that would be a mistake. Cruising is a smart book that will challenge and engage a large audience. —Adam Bell

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Adam Bell is a photographer and writer based in Brooklyn, NY. He received his MFA from the School of Visual Arts, and his work has been exhibited and published internationally. He is the co-editor and co-author, with Charles H. Traub and Steve Heller, of The Education of a Photographer (Allworth Press, 2006). His writing has appeared in Foam Magazine, Lay Flat and Ahorn Magazine. He is currently on staff and faculty at the School of Visual Arts' MFA Photography, Video and Related Media Department.
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In my opinion, its trash. I am a firm believer in free speech and I do not shy away from adding books to my photo book collection that others may find offensive. Jock Sturges, Sally Mann and so many other photographers are brilliant and insightful and I honor their work. The trees are beautiful and so are the men whose sexuality was forced into the bushes and closets because of a not so tolerant world. If this photo essay brought a deeper level of understanding to the issue or in any way improved the conversation, I would consider it a landmark. I don't believe that it does. People are being hung and killed for being fully human. Bell and Photo-Eye should be more sensitive to the LBGT community that supports the photo book publishing and distribution industry. Free speech and sensitivity go hand in hand in my humble opinion. I respect your right to feature any book that you wish, but I consider it less than sensitive, no matter whether bell considers it a work of importance.
Posted By Denny Cormier | October 19, 2011 at 3:48 PM
Mr Cormier, I'm sorry you dislike the work and my review. You are certainly entitled to your opinion. I did not address some of these issues, because they are addressed in the book's essay. Violence and hatred of the LGBT community is a real and terrible thing that we should all fight. The book explores a reality that not many people know exists, choose to ignore, or even worst, make crude homophobic jokes about. By making the viewer an voyeur in those acts, I think it raises important issues not only for the viewer, but for us as a society. By doing so, perhaps it can shed light on the situation, make us more tolerant and learn to accept other people's sexuality - or at the very least learn what our intolerance has forced people to do. The worst thing we can do is ignore it and force people back into the shadows.
Posted By Adam Bell | October 20, 2011 at 1:14 PM
Thank you for your comment. We encourage all of photo-eye Magazine's readers to express their opinions in response to the books reviewed. The magazine's content is not intended to be inflammatory, and we stand by Adam Bell's critique and our decision to review this book.

photo-eye first encountered Chad States' work was when it reviewed by a member of the photo-eye staff who found both States and his images to be compelling and thoughtful. An excerpt from Cruising was recently featured in issue 2 of Little Brown Mushroom Books' Lonely Boy Mag, which, along with Alec Soth's interview with States for the powerHouse publication, stands as a clear endorsement of its photographic relevance. powerHouse Books has proven to consistently produce fine and notable photography books, many of which have been sold and promoted by photo-eye, and has also shown support of the LBGT community through their history of publishing titles of homosexual focus.

photo-eye Magazine was aware of the issues this book could potentially raise, but felt that the photographs themselves, as well as the book's essay written by Gordon Brent Ingram, Ph.D., an expert and practitioner of environmental planning and design who has also written on how these spaces are shaped and perceived by gays and lesbians, affirmed a scholarly, unsensational, fine-art approach.
Posted By photo-eye | October 20, 2011 at 1:20 PM
I would prefer to delete an earlier post but was unable to find a way to do so. I am going to have to leave it to the photo book experts to judge the value of the book. Obviously there is something of value that others saw, but that I failed to see, and continue to fail to see. However, the experts can't be wrong, and I will just continue to invest in books that I consider of value to the world of fine art photography and to the world of relevant photojournalism. My apologies to Photo-Eye, and to the photographer, and to critics for making my assessment a public one. But no apologies for my assessment of the concept itself, which is personal and was carefully considered before it was posted.
Posted By Denny Cormier | November 2, 2011 at 4:17 PM
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I would prefer to delete an earlier post but was unable to find a way to do so. I am going to have to leave it to the photo book experts to judge the value of the book. Obviously there is something of value that others saw, but that I failed to see, and continue to fail to see. However, the experts can't be wrong, and I will just continue to invest in books that I consider of value to the world of fine art photography and to the world of relevant photojournalism. My apologies to Photo-Eye, and to the photographer, and to critics for making my assessment a public one. But no apologies for my assessment of the concept itself, which is personal and was carefully considered before it was posted.
Posted By Denny Cormier | November 2, 2011 at 4:17 PM
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