photos: Hello Mr.
It was sometime in 2014 that Hello Mr. first appeared on my book-shelf. With its unique blend of opinions, personal views and gay perspectives on style, relationships, and more, it swept aside all the clichés of the mainstream gay press right away. Thanks to its curated design, stunning images, and delightful take on ‘dating’ between men, Hello Mr. would soon become one my favorite contemporary magazines. The 6th and latest issue, which has hit the stands last week, is not only my all-time favorite, but it’s about your (and mine) absolute favorite city: Berlin. For the occasion, Hello Mr. is coming all the way from New York City to launch at Berlin’s beloved magazine store Do You Read Me? tomorrow Friday, Sep 4th. – More on this after the jump.
Hello Mr. is a bi-annual publication which not only informs and entertains, but it exposes how gay identity encompasses endless expressions of homosexuality. Ryan Fitzgibbon, who casted himself not only as a designer but as an editor and publisher, launched the magazine in 2013, and has since conceived each issue as a single storyline from the broad concept to the tiniest detail. For the latest issue, N.6, he developed a new form of personal communication, meant to be as direct as possible, by celebrating all that experimentation stands for. Across drawings, editorials, an interview with Marcus Leatherdale, and Matt Lambert’s photographs, Hello Mr. Issue 6 highlights the importance of exploring as a process of growth. And because experimentation and Berlin come hand in hand, the issue had to be dedicated to the spirit of our city, and to the will to explore the world’s possibilities and its limits, that drive gay men in the German capital.
The 6th issue features new work by highly acclaimed Berlin-based filmmaker and photographer Matt Lambert, who tells his Berlin story through an exclusive intimate portrait series of his lovers, muses, and collaborators. Filling the void in gay media by focusing on the beauty of boys, Matt Lambert explores themes of youth, love, sex, and identity, pursuing the ultimate representation of intimacy and by giving it the greatest possible brilliance. Matt Lambert’s naked muses included in the magazine are not just sexy boys on paper – or your friends from Berghain – but a work of art that is much more than a depiction of natural beauty. His photographs must be read as a ‘map’, where his attempt to capture the depth of intimacy becomes an ongoing discovery as well as a revelation. In other words, the photo-series tells us things about our world, about Berlin, and about gays in Berlin, that we aren’t always capable of seeing ourselves. “It serves as a periscope into Berlin’s club culture, documenting the innate desire to experiment, to chase curiosity, to be dangerous” explains Ryan Fitzgibbon.
Hello Mr. Issue 6 is so great because it shows how so much of ‘our gay Berlin experience’ is universal, yet unique and personal. Because of this and more, you should all pick up your copy and join the exclusive launch party at Do You Read Me, Auguststr. 28, tomorrow from 6.30 – 8.30pm.
P.S: SEXY GUYS ALERT!
