Tuesday, June 26, 2012

The Intouchables

































Amazing movie based on a true story... This is a must see film!

Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

More Victor!








































Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Blockorama Retrospective































Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

Home Spirit


















The Spirit of Detroit is a city monument with a large bronze statue created by Marshall Fredericks and located at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center on Woodward Avenue in DetroitMichigan.

It was commissioned in 1955 for a cost of $58,000 (equivalent to $503,195 today), and dedicated in 1958. In its left hand, the large seated figure holds a gilt bronze sphere emanating rays to symbolize God. In its right hand, is a family group symbolizing all human relationships. The 26-foot (7.9 m) sculpture was the largest cast bronze statue since the Renaissance when it was first installed. It was cast in Oslo, Norway.  The statue underwent a restoration in 2006, funded by foundations and other private donations.

Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

Melancholy In Paradise
























Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Tenacity and Vision


















1992 was 20 years ago… It was the year Curtis Lipscomb moved back to Detroit after spending time in NYC working in the fashion industry. It as also the year he became part of Men of Color, an up and coming motivational group that met every Tuesday in the basement of a Woodward Avenue Episcopal church.  The group represented Black gay men and their supporters and on any given Tuesday you might find 30 - 60 members congregated around a topic of discussion.  More often than not there might be a motivational speaker brought in to tell their story.  Every meeting ended with you feeling better than when you had walked in and was often followed by a dinner somewhere in the city.   It was a special time for many of us.  We were meeting in a place other than a bar and suddenly these individuals came alive as individuals vs. club kids…  Between 1993 and 1995 the group grew into a bigger organization ultimately developing offices, and an HIV outreach program funded by a Ryan White Act Grant of considerable value.  MOC had become a 501c3 non-profit with a board of directors and Curtis and I became part of a team responsible for getting the word out… A newsletter and events became part of our responsibility.  At the zenith of the groups existence we helped to role out the first program ever targeted to an inner city gay audience in Detroit's history called "In The Circle".  Shortly there after the motivational group collapsed under the new and immense responsibilities and egos gone array leaving only the HIV outreach group to finish out their responsibilities to the grant.  Looking back it was a stunning implosion.

Curtis and I worked diligently to start a magazine to fill the hole that had been left in our lives… it was called Kick.   Over the years Kick has grown into another organization, which has largely replaced the original MOC with Curtis at the helm.  I had by then moved on to a new job in Toronto.  Today Kick is an organization that is out on the front lines, getting out a message of safe sex, and fighting for human rights in a city enduring tough times!   Back in the MOC days it was a big deal to get support from a City Council Member or even a meeting with the Mayor.  Curtis has moved Kick into a new orbit with his work and mission as recognized by a recent trip to the White House and Meeting the President.

The story I have encapsulated is much larger and epic in scope but when I looked at these photos I couldn't help but think back to those early MOC days…  Couldn't help but think of all the things the group wanted to accomplish then.  I walk away with the thought that while the road may have been convoluted and long, the mission for Curtis and many others never waivered from its original goals.  Curtis's tenacity and vision being recognized at such a national level says it all.

I'm so proud to see Curtis recognized for his work and efforts… Yet still only the beginning of a bigger and more epic story still being told in Detroit!

















Jonathan Carthart of the Washington Post,  Jan & Sue, publishers of Between The Lines Newspaper and Curtis Lipscomb from Kick!


Here is an article related to the White House Visit


Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Power




















Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

The Fire This Time















Taking stock of more than a decade of photography at Blockorama! Featuring work by yours truly;-) as well as Abdi Osman, Courtney McFarlane, Deviant Productions and Syrus Marcus Ware and more!  The showing will be on the third floor of Gladday bookshop starting at 5pm June 22.  You can find out more HERE

Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Learning My Father





















In life what is said is not everything said.  In a month or so ill be 52 thanks to the power of medicine and the surgeons of St. Michaels who worked hard to make it possible.  A lot has happened to me over the past four months, much of it happening in that space between my ears.  Not sure I would call it learning as much as I would say finally finding an understanding of some key realities within my life.  Relationships with fathers are often portrayed as difficult.  I understand why.  I also understand that I have spent much of my life lost in the translation... Unable to read the subtext of my relationship with my own father. The older I get the more he is revealed to me and with this latest crisis I have figured out that my father loves me.  I guess I have known it all along but I fought the concept because I wanted it to be in a way that I wanted it...  Reality is you get love in many ways and in all ways it is good and has value and should never be taken for granted.  This is what I have learned. This is what makes this fathers day special to me.


















Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Published!























This week there was the launch of a new examination of the Arts in Canada and Pluralism...  The book was compiled and edited by Charles Smith (Wind In The Leaves Collective) and includes a piece written by Kevin Ormsby (Kashedance)...   Both pieces are illustrated with some great images from yours truly!  What a great honor to be part of a book like this...  Much thanks and Congrats to booth my friends!:-)

















Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

Tuesday, June 05, 2012

Leap Of Faith

















Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

Leo Determination




























































Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.