The outfits, the hair, the bulge, few figures defined 1970s gay culture like Peter Berlin. Born Armin Hagen von Hoyningen-Huene in German-occupied Poland in 1942, he worked as a photographer in his early 20s, whilst at the same time becoming a fixture of the cruising scene around Berlin and other European cities. Moving to San Francisco in the early 70s, his distinctive dress sense, which accentuated his god-given assets, caused Berlin to become an icon of the underground gay scene. He starred in two hardcore gay porn films, Nights in Black Leather (1973) and That Boy (1974), which are now seen as pioneering works of the genre.

Now the focus on an exhibition at LA’s Mariposa Gallery, Peter Berlin: Permission to Stare displays Berlin’s work, his films and his photography, all of which centres on his favourite subject: himself. The character of Peter Berlin, which Von Hoyningen-Huene always refers to as a separate identity, can be seen as an early experiment in the type of persona-based celebrity that has become commonplace today. Looking like a real life Tom of Finland drawing (Berlin actually posed for Tom of Finland several times), his works focus on ideas surrounding explicit gay male desire, idealised masculinity, and self-mythology.

In the lead-up to the exhibition, we spoke to Peter Berlin about his life and legacy.

Barry Pierce: How does it feel to have an entire exhibition dedicated to your work in LA?
Peter Berlin: If it would stop global warming I would get excited, but I’m grateful and surprised that there is still interest after over 50 years, when I created my films and photographs. I am an antique. After 50 years, I think one is elevated from something; from nothing to an antique, and the prices will be accordingly higher. I’m glad to be still relevant.

“We are still in a time where male sexuality is a complete taboo.”

BP: Looking back, both Nights in Black Leather and That Boy were created over fifty years ago. Did you ever imagine they would have such a lasting cultural impact decades later?
PB: I don’t see the lasting cultural impact. I’m surprised that these two films are still shown. My judgment was always, “Nothing to write home about… not really bad.” They were done on a shoestring budget of less than $5000. I’m grateful and surprised that there is still such a response.

“I was longing for a picture that I thought was a perfect description of a male erotic figure.”

BP: What do you think it was about your persona, the look, style, and energy you projected in the 1970s, that caused you to become such a celebrated underground figure?
PB: Most photographs captured the character of ‘Peter Berlin’ at his best. Being shot when he felt really good. No fakery, just honest, genuine, authentic, sincere, and earnest. He never smiled. I was longing for a picture that I thought was a perfect description of a male erotic figure. Without hiding the form of the male body, usually in very tight clothes, where the form was not hidden. My idea was to create a depiction of masculinity, of what makes the visual difference between a man and a woman. In that era, women were allowed and encouraged to show their sexuality, and men were not.”

BP: Do you ever find yourself nostalgic for San Francisco in the 1970s? It was a very different city back then, far more sexually liberal, as you captured so well in your works. How would you compare that era to the city now?
PB: I’m nostalgic only for my childhood, the pre-‘Peter Berlin’ time. I’m grateful for my mother and grandmother’s gift of feeling safe and cared for. I had the best timing of being born in the early 40s, so I could experience the 70s in San Francisco, New York, London and Paris. It never occurred to me things could change to what they are now. This time we live in is the result of people who didn’t live and behave like ‘Peter Berlin.’ We are still in a time where male sexuality is a complete taboo. I don’t see another ‘Peter Berlin’ running around on this planet.

BP: As America seems to be shifting back toward conservatism, do you feel that your work, in retrospect, has grown more radical with time?
PB: There is and never was anything radical about ‘Peter Berlin’. The image was meant to excite and be a template for young men to be inspired by, to imitate and improve. I’m sure there are some in the underground. I guess it takes guts today to be a proud, openly public ‘Peter Berlin’. In my view, the reason the world is in such bad shape is because men are still repressed about displaying their sexuality. When you suppress the free erotic nature of men and they are not allowed to express their sexuality, men get frustrated and angry and violent. That’s why we have war.

Peter Berlin: Permission to Stare runs at Mariposa, Los Angeles, until February 23rd.