French booksellers discover first adult Rimbaud picture

Two French booksellers have discovered the only clear image of the 19th century French poet Arthur Rimbaud as an adult, after stumbling across it at a flea market.

Read the full article and see the picture on the Telegraph's website, here.

(it has now emerged that the picture is actually a fake - see comments below (in French) by the author of the hoax)

37 Years of Pride London in Pictures

To mark Pride London, taking place later today, the BBC have put together a slideshow of images from the Hall Carpenter Archives retracing 37 years of marches and protests on the streets and in the parks of London.

You can view the images here.

Gay Pride Picture Selected by International Prize

Couple targeted in anti-gay violence wait for medical help - Zsolt Szigetváry, Hungary, MTI.

A picture taken by Hungarian photographer Zsolt Szigetváry and representing a couple victim of a homophobic attack has been recognised in an international photographic prize. The powerful picture was taken during the 12th Budapest Pride which took place on 7 July 2007.

The march brought together 2000 people who were targeted by about 100 skinheads from a right wing organisation. The police was quickly overcome and only 8 people were arrested while several dozen demonstrators got injured. The attacks were later condemned by the Mayor of the city (read more here).

The international jury of the 51st annual World Press Photo Contest awarded Szigetváry the second prize in the "Contemporary Issues" category. The title of World Press Photo of the Year 2007 was awarded to the work of UK photographer Tim Hetherington.

This year, a record number of participants from 125 countries sent in their work, a total of 5,019 photographers, which is an increase of 12.5% compared to 2007. The total number of images submitted was 80,536. The jury gave prizes in 10 theme categories to 59 photographers of 23 nationalities.

The awards ceremony is preceded by a three-day program of lectures, discussions and screenings of photography. The exhibition of prizewinners will be shown at the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam between 29 April and 22 June and will subsequently visit over 100 locations around the world. For a provisional exhibition schedule see: www.worldpressphoto.org/exhibitions.

Photos of gay icons bought by National Portrait Gallery

Four portraits by acclaimed gay photographer David Gwinnutt have been acquired by the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Mr Gwinnutt, who has photographed many well-known gay celebrities, said he was honoured that his work will become part of the national collection of portraiture.

The portraits of film director John Schlesinger, playwright Neil Bartlett, performance artist and club legend Leigh Bowery and photographer Corinne Day are candid and intimate.

Terrence Pepper, curator of photographs at The NPG, said, "We are delighted to have four more photographs by David Gwinnutt in the Photographs Collection. Atmospheric and evocative, Gwinnutt's high-contrast black and white, strikingly composed photographs evoke very well the era in which they were taken. Anti-glamorous and un-staged, they reveal an intimacy with his sitters, allowing the viewer to feel they are seeing the 'real' person in the picture."

Mr Gwinnutt also designed The Pink Jack, a gay version of the Union Jack often seen at Pride events in the UK.

He told PinkNews.co.uk: "It's an honour to have my portraits recognised in this way, especially when I think of some of the events that surrounded them. John Schlesinger turned me away from his door saying I'd made him look fat. I was crestfallen. I thought he looked statuesque!"

The subjects were all photographed in their homes, apart from Day, who was photographed in hospital after her well documented brain operation in the 1990s.

The portrait of Corinne Day will be on display at the National Portrait Gallery, St Martins Place, London, from next month. The other portraits by can be viewed on the Portrait Explorer IT resource, which is available in the IT gallery at the NPG.

With thanks to PinkNews.

National Portrait Gallery

Kissing Policemen Banned by Russia

Kissing Policemen (An Epoch of Clemency) by Blue Noses

The above photography has been banned together with 16 other works from appearing in a Paris exhibition on contemporary Russian art. "If this exhibition appears [in Paris] it will bring shame on Russia. In this case, all of us will bear full responsibility," the minister said. Russia's culture minister, Alexander Sokolov called the pitcture political provocation, adding: "It is inadmissible...to take all this pornography, kissing policemen and erotic pictures to Paris."

The minister also banned another work by the same collective, Blue Noses, showing Vladimir Putin, George Bush and Osama bin Laden cavorting on a double bed in their underpants. The works were shown last May in Russia without problem.

Alexander Shaburov, one of the two artists in Blue Noses said that he had been "inspired by Banksy's iconic image of two constables kissing. We wanted to do the same but in Russia," Banksy is a London based stencil artist whose works appear on the walls of the captial. One of his most famous stencils shows a couple of British policemen in the same position as that of the Russian ones above.

The Russian artists claim that their work has nothing to do with homosexuality but rather that "The aim of our work is to take cliches and to make them as absurd as possible." However, one can not but be reminded of the everyday and rather strident homophobia shown regularly by religious and civil authorities in the country.

No Paris trip for Russia's kissing policemen, The Guardian
Gay Police Kiss Banned From Paris Show, Queerty

LGBT History Month at Pride London

LGBT History Month joined the National Union of Teachers and Schools OUT at London Pride 2007 on Saturday 30 June.

We hope to have a presence at all the Pride events nationwide.

Please look out for us and pay us a visit. We are very keen to hear what you think of LGBT History Month and how we can work to improve it.

The photo shows Sue Sanders and Paul Patrick, Co-Chairs of LGBT History Month in front of our very colourful stall.

Photo Pool

We want your pictures.

We have created a photo pool for you to share pictures of the events you have organise or any other pictures you thing may interest other friends of History Month (Note that you will need to create a free Yahoo!/flickr account to be able to upload pictures).

You can view the photo pool here.