RoyStuart

1970–1980

These were the years of Roy Stuart's evolution in the New York context of the so-called American counterculture. Poets, musicians and junkies. He associated with Gregory Corso and Allen Ginsberg, but of extreme importance was the encounter with the Cuban poet Nelson Villamor who became his very close friend. Stuart together with Villamor shared the musical experience bound to the "Pigeons of the Universe" band. Parallelly to music, at the dawn of the 1970s, Stuart had his first cinematographic experience: a minor part in The Godfather Part II and, subsequently, in many other movies, amongst which a few X-rated movies of the time (Lasse Braun). Stuart remains instantly fascinated by cinematographic techniques and especially by the use of lighting; asking many questions, he observes and learns to build creations with the use of lights.

 

1980–1990 Stuart, seemingly resolute in refusing "the American way of life", left the United States for Europe. He established himself in England, where he shot erotic snaps of his girlfriend, that would later be sold to some French magazines. The already remarkable clichés became more defined. His contacts grew proportionally to the increasing contracts. Roy Stuart became a professional photographer and, for a certain period, he worked as a fashion photographer as well. The uptight attitude in London during the 1980s triggered Stuart's departure for Paris.

 

1990–2010 More and more often the photographic sessions were also filmed. These sequences would later be grouped together in The Glimpse Videos, an experimental assemblage very close to the idea of a documentary of his work. The photographic series became more narrative. Stuart grew closer to his dream of the 1970s: cinema. The meeting organized by Dian Hanson with Benedikt Taschen realised itself in the publication of five photo volumes (Roy Stuart I - RSV) which give the author worldwide success, having sold more than 500,000 copies. In 2008 Stuart directed and produced his first full-length feature film, The Lost Door. In 2014 Skylight releases Glympstorys, his 6th opus.