Auch ich in Arkadien? Wilhelm von Gloeden’s Homoerotic Photography, Javier Samper Vendrell
I examine the work of Wilhelm von Gloeden (1856–1931) in this seminar. His photographs of Sicilian youths re-enacted the ancient Greek tradition of pederasty. Drawing upon texts by Winckelmann, von Platten, and Goethe, I fabulate the photographer’s interactions with his models, his emotional state, and his desire, while considering how race, class, gender, and power informed the creation of these works. Von Gloeden’s photographs, I contend, illustrate the imperial gaze, the eroticization of the racialized Other, and the exploitation of children and youth.