Charles Gatewood
Director · 1942 – 2016
Charles Gatewood was a photographer, writer, videographer, artist and educator, who lived and worked in San Francisco, California. His work mapped, provocatively and disturbingly, the subcultures of strippers, sex-club devotees, bikers, body piercers and fetishists.
Movies2
MoviePhotographer Charles Gatewood offers insight and comments on a variety of his work. His subjects include exhibitionism, transvestites, fetishism, scenes from Mardi Gras, and body modification such as tattoos, body piercing, and extreme weight gain.
- Movie5.4
"Charles Gatewood is a photographer and anthropologist who specializes in "subcultures." On the evidence of "Dances Sacred and Profane," Mark and Dan Jury's documentary about Mr. Gatewood, he is drawn particularly to Mardi Gras revels, gatherings of nudists and sex clubs. Bare breasts, elaborately tattooed bodies and bizarre behavior are featured in his work, and in the movie. Addressing those who may find his subject matter "revolting and disgusting," Mr. Gatewood asserts that it "tells us something about ourselves." He sees "important statements being made there," about "liberation through excess" and "some kind of actualization of transcendence."
Dances Sacred and Profane
1985 · 7 votes