Documentary celebrates the American photographer who lived, breathed and captured the shimmering fever dream of NYC’s gay culture in the 1940s and 50s

George Platt Lynes was an American photographer who lived in Paris in the 1920s and then mostly in New York City for the rest of his life; he died in 1955. A gay man who was very out by the standards of the times, he was right in the middle of the one of the most flamboyant bohemian queer scenes of the period. And, man, did he have fun, shagging up a storm and taking nude pictures of beautiful men and women (but mostly men) when he wasn’t earning work shooting fashion spreads for Vogue magazine. This documentary, directed by Sam Shahid, introduces his life and work in a deeply respectful, straightforward way, splicing in hundreds of examples of his mostly black-and-white pictures with curators, admirers and some surviving friends and acquaintances. Notable interviewees include portrait artist Don Bachardy, and the painter Bernard Perlin, seen in archive footage given he died in 2014, who was a very close friend of Platt Lynes and the executor of his artistic estate.

Like so many other documentaries about dead artists that require cooperation from the deceased’s estate, this sometimes gets a little hyperbolic about its subject’s talent. Which is not to say that Lynes’ work isn’t worth exploring and celebrating, not only for its aesthetic merits but also for the way it captures a specific time and place. His commercial work was classical and elegant, tinged with a surrealism he learned first hand from Man Ray himself. His nudes and frankly erotic material are gorgeously sensual with a chilly, sculptural quality whose influence can be traced in later photographers of male nudes like Robert Mapplethorpe.

Continue reading...

In 2015, a nationwide campaign rounded up hundreds of rights advocates. Since then, suppression has become more systematic and less visible, lawyers say

A decade on from China’s biggest crackdown on human rights lawyers in modern history, lawyers and activists say that the Chinese Communist party’s control over the legal profession has tightened, making rights defence work next to impossible.

The environment for human rights law has “steadily regressed, especially after the pandemic”, said Ren Quanniu, a disbarred human rights lawyer. “Right now, the rule of law in China – especially in terms of protecting human rights – has deteriorated to a point where it’s almost comparable to the Cultural Revolution era.” The Cultural Revolution was a decade of mass chaos unleashed by China’s former leader Mao Zedong in 1966. During that time judicial organs were attacked as “bourgeois” and the nascent court system was largely suspended.

Continue reading...

Exclusive: Experts call for stricter regulation as current rules set in 1989 require testing for only a few heavy metals

Millions of tonnes of treated sewage sludge is spread on farmland across the UK every year despite containing forever chemicals, microplastics and toxic waste, and experts say the outdated current regulations are not fit for purpose.

An investigation by the Guardian and Watershed has identified England’s sludge-spreading hotspots and shown where the practice could be damaging rivers.

Continue reading...

President Lula rebukes wealthy countries for retreating on climate and trade but bloc is divided and unbalanced

As the US retreats from the international stage, the most powerful political alliance in the global south has come together in Brazil this week to try to revive and reinvent a collective approach to the world’s problems.

The summit of the Brics group of nations at the Museum of Contemporary Art on the edge of Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro is both a dress rehearsal for the Belém Cop30 UN climate conference in November and a rebuke to wealthier countries that have withdrawn to bunkers, launched missiles and choked off aid to poorer regions.

Continue reading...

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

Continue reading...

The administration has wiped over $2.7bn in climate grants, hitting underserved communities across the US the hardest

This story was originally published by Floodlight

Acre by acre, the village of Kipnuk is falling into the river.

Continue reading...

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro today announced the sentencings of  three District men -- Jalonie Hooper, 26, Edward Frizell Williams, Jr., 53, and Dandre Goodwin, 30 -- for their roles in a narcotics trafficking conspiracy that operated an open-air drug market in the Trinidad neighborhood in Northeast Washington D.C.

From bucket hats to Man City socks and the band’s logo everywhere, gig-goers in Cardiff talk us through their outfits – and explain why Liam is still a style icon, even with shorter hair

In the weeks leading up to their first gig for 16 years, Oasis have been busy when it comes to merch. They opened pop-up shops and announced collabs with Levi’s, Adidas and Next. The results are plain to see on the streets of Cardiff the afternoon before the long-awaited gig. If they say you are never more than six feet away from a rat in a city, here you are never more than six inches away from that famous Oasis Helvetica Black Oblique logo.

It’s on bucket hats, football shirts, tracksuit tops, T-shirts and, every so often, someone’s face. The fanbase goes across generations and demographics. There are those who were there the first time, and teenagers who grew up on their music. Some have travelled for miles – from Italy, Spain, Portugal and the US. If the crowd is largely white, there’s a contingent of fans from east Asia.

From left: Ash Parker, Marcus Long and Joe Gallagher in their brand new T-shirts

Continue reading...

The controversy around the state’s once-celebrated ethnic studies curriculum reveals deeper schisms afflicting public schools nationwide

It was celebrated at the time as a major milestone for progressive education. In 2021, California became the first state to make ethnic studies a graduation requirement, mandating all high schools teach the subject by fall 2025.

The idea, championed by California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, was to bring modern concepts into the classroom. At its core, ethnic studies, an academic discipline born on California campuses during the civil rights movement, elevates the experiences of historically marginalized groups. Its materials push students to question their biases, reimagine power structures, and think critically about the enduring legacies of colonialism. In California high schools, courses would bring to the fore the experiences of Chicano, Black and Indigenous communities in the state by diving into issues such as gentrification, the impact of pesticides on farm worker communities and the legacies of Indian boarding schools. Many school districts enthusiastically jumped on board.

Continue reading...