Folsom – Booklet Trilogy 2009 · 2010 · 2011

Folsom – Booklet Trilogy 2009 · 2010 · 2011

Every year in early September, Fuggerstraße in Berlin’s Schöneberg district becomes the setting for the Folsom street fair, a fetish festival carried largely by the LGBT+ community. Horatiu Sava portrayed the fair three years in a row. The result is a trilogy of three booklets, one each for 2009, 2010 and 2011.

The portraits were made spontaneously, in the middle of the festivities. Sava approaches his protagonists on the street and places them in front of a calm backdrop: in 2009 the rear of the festival structures, in the following years the street scene itself or a canvas set up for the purpose. The bustle recedes, and the view belongs entirely to the people: individuals and couples in leather, latex and uniform, with collar, chain and mask, facing the camera head-on and with self-assurance.

The artistic documentary style remains calm and unagitated throughout. The focus is not on provocation but on personality, relationship and belonging. Across three years, a picture emerges of a community that shows its inclinations openly and with pride.

The photographs are accompanied by poems by Hans Lehrer, which give the images a literary voice in each booklet.

The three spiral-bound booklets each have a colour of their own (yellow, pink and olive green) and are held together by a red rubber band. The trilogy is published in a limited, numbered edition of 80 copies.

Details

• Photographs: Horatiu Sava
• Poems: Hans Lehrer
• Three booklets, spiral-bound, with rubber band
• Format: 14.5 × 19 cm
• Extent: 28 pages each, 77 illustrations in total
• Edition: 80 copies, numbered