Impulse to Action

Sunday, October 4, 2026

Cruising

Minor White Minor White

Minor White,
Arches of the Dodd Building
(1938)

Searching for you
The public you
A you now honored by queer art activists

What would you think of this,

fifty years after your death?

We publicly proclaim our love
Men loving men
Something you thought impossible
Something I thought impossible

There are thorns, of course there are thorns,
there are always thorns
And there are rose beds of lush bloom

Let’s hang out together in the archive
Cruise each other in full view of others
Push the edge of what I know and what I imagine
Embrace the private you
Your passionate quest of the spirit.

-- Larry Wolf, October 2026

read at the Gerber/Hart Queer History Symposium, 3 October 2026

Larry Wolf, Instagram Search for Minor White (2026)

Tuesday, September 29, 2026

Robert and John Lived Here

Larry Wolf, Picnic on the Terrace, pre-1946 (2026)
from HALF 85 neg, University of Illinois Archive RS 31/13/5 Box 6 Negatives

Monday, September 28, 2026

The Sphinx Redux

Larry Wolf, The Sphinx at The Farms (2026)

I've been thinking, again, about the Sphinx at Allerton's place, the gift designed by John Borie, his friend, architect, traveling companion, perhaps much more.

Here's a short edit from Oscar Wilde's poem:

A beautiful and silent Sphinx has watched me through the shifting gloom

... who were your lovers?

... how subtle-secret is your smile!

... you kissed his mouth with mouths of flame ... you called him by his secret name

... ruined is the house ... scattered here and there ... in the windy sand

... his giant granite hand still clenched in impotent despair

... go seek his fragments ... wake mad passions in the senseless stone!

... are there not others more accursed ... than I?

... watches the world with wearied eyes ... and weeps for every soul

Oscar Wilde, The Sphinx (1894)
[wikipedia.org/.../The_Sphinx_(poem)]

Larry Wolf, The Sphinx at The Farms (2026)

Earlier Posts

Monday 24 November 2025: The Sphinx

Saturday 6 December 2025: Reflective Saturday

Sunday, August 23, 2026

Slides

Minor White (1908–1976;
born Minneapolis, MN; died Boston, MA;active Portland, OR, and Rochester, NY),
Red van with photography equipment, White River National Forest, Colorado, 1964.
35mm slide. The Minor White Archive, Princeton University Art Museum,
bequest of Minor White (MWA SL 64-18)

Photography as a Way of Life: From Archive to Exhibition

White liked the way that shooting color slides shifted his attention away from careful planning toward rapid seeing. As slides returned in boxes after processing, White was provoked by the way they accumulated in large numbers, inviting him to shuffle them into new combinations like a deck of cards. He embraced slide projection as a way of sharing color images with viewers, and he came to think of color as a medium for live audiences.

Brendan Fay, July 27, 2026

Essay: From Archive to Exhibition

Exhibition: Photography as a Way of Life