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‘I’m not into leather at all!’: John Wood on privately photographing Glasgow’s gay underground, and the comparisons with Robert Mapplethorpe
John Wood, a 79-year-old former telecoms engineer, is holding his first ever solo photography exhibition at Celine gallery in Glasgow, revealing a private archive of erotic portraits documenting the city's gay leather subculture. Taken secretly over two decades in a converted attic in Glasgow's West End, the images have drawn comparisons to the work of Robert Mapplethorpe, though Wood himself was not part of the leather scene he photographed and describes his approach as strikingly hands-off.
The portraits span from 1982 to 2002, ranging from a small Polaroid of a nude man named "Cal" to a 2002 gelatin silver print of a man in a leather waistcoat and cap. Wood calls the works "collaborative photographs", saying his subjects, often restricted by tight leather clothing, largely dictated their own poses while he focused on lighting; he frequently gave a duplicate print to each sitter. He was introduced to the scene by a former partner, and notes the images take on added significance given that male homosexuality was only decriminalised in Scotland in 1981, the same year the first UK Aids cases were diagnosed.
In short
- Glasgow photographer John Wood, 79, gets first solo exhibition
- Archive documents the city's private gay leather scene, 1982-2002
- Work draws Mapplethorpe comparisons, though Wood wasn't part of that scene
Explained simply
John Wood, a 79-year-old former telecoms engineer, is holding his first solo photography exhibition at a Glasgow gallery. The show features erotic portraits he took secretly over two decades, documenting the city's gay leather subculture.
The photographs span from 1982 to 2002 and show people in leather clothing, ranging from small Polaroids to larger prints. Wood describes these as collaborative works, with the subjects largely directing their own poses whilst he handled the lighting and typically gave each person a print.
The work has drawn comparisons to photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, though Wood was not part of the scene he documented. The images gain added significance from their historical context: male homosexuality was only decriminalised in Scotland in 1981, the same year the first UK Aids cases were diagnosed.