Physique Week: ‘Uncle Roy’ at NewFest38 & Stanley Stellar’s ‘Don’t Worry Boys’ Book Launch

It was wall-to-wall male nudes for me the past few days ...

October 19, 2026

Blakey’s boys! Frank Davis (lower left) appears in the film. (Image by Roy Blakey)

First up, I was pleased to see Uncle Roy for a second time Sunday, this time at NewFest38 at the SVA in NYC. The fest continues, so check out other films that are screening here.

Director (and co-subject) Keri Pickett and writer Dawn Mikkelson were on hand to speak about the intimate doc, all about physique photographer and figure-skating archivist Roy Blakey, Keri’s beloved uncle. Check out my latest chat with Keri:

All my pics from the evening:

Dawn Mikkelson & Keri Pickett — and they’re “mid-edit” on their next project!

Collectors & activists/gallerists Charles Leslie & Rocco Buonpane of SoHo Project Space at the screening (All images by Matthew Rettenmund)

Keri receiving praise after the emotional screening

Two shots of Keri with Charles at his home, the legendary “Penis Palace,” where he hosted the after-party

Toasting the film’s completion after 20 years

Keri & Dawn amid their admirers & guests

Artist Steven Menendez with interview subject Wade Corbett, a living-legend figure skater

I couldn’t resist a photo with Charles myself.

On October 15, I (barely) made it to a book signing I’ve been looking forward to, the celebration of Stanley Stellar’s latest book, Don’t Worry Boys (Loose Joints Publishing, $76, text by Andrew Holleran).

(Image via Loose Joints Publishing)

Don’t Worry Boys is 192 pages of sex, history, love and above all art, the artistry of Stellar, whose eye has captured so many aspects of NYC queer life for exactly 50 years.

Stanley roved the Village and the piers, shooting frank images that carry so much empathy with their subjects; even when he is indulging in voyeuristic framing, it never feels as if the photographer and his subjects are at a remove.

He is of the community as he captures the community, what he finds hot we find hot, and what he finds interesting we are likely to discover we find interesting, too.

Interesting, and now also nostalgic.

Literally receiving his flowers

One of his images, of a hustler in a red jacket, was a best-selling postcard (remember those?) that I bought and used to decorate my dorm room in college. It was one of a hundred ways I came out without having to come out. Seeing it reproduced in this book across two pages brings that stage of my life flooding back.

He asked me to be sure I got one with his mouth closed, so I feel I have succeeded.

I think he is one of the best street photographers ever, and unlike Vivian Maier, he was never shy about it, allowing his name and fame to build. But I wonder if in his wildest dreams back in the day Stanley envisioned a time when his photographs would be offered in art books and as prints on the walls of upscale galleries. He’s an artist of the people, but his aesthetic and his impeccable composition make him a critical darling, too.

I bought one of the last books — right out of the window!

His talent is immortal, but the world he shot is mostly lost. Still, Don’t Worry Boys is one more way to keep your piece of it. ⚡️