About the Book
The store was jam-packed and, since it was a balmy Friday night, guests were spilling out onto the sidewalk, smoking, gossiping and arguing. Try State magazine, the racy gay art and photography rag, was hosting the event and editor Robert Greco was talking up Cessna. “I love the way Walt takes even the most masculine man and shows his feminine side,” he said. But Cessna himself is one macho dude, showing up that night in his trademark jaunty newsboy cap, tattooed arms and neatly trimmed beard.
Was the title of his book of photos, FUKT 2 START WIT, autobiographical? Dunno, but he was hit by a car several months ago, leaving him with a hint of a limp. “I’m a survivor,” he told me. He’s certainly had a life of ups and downs—beginning in Flushing, Queens, forging a fashion and journalism career in the big city. Ever a barometer of creativity, Cessna’s been sued twice by the big boys: once by American Airlines for designing dresses cut from stolen blankets for his own Dom Casual clothing line, and another time by Louis Vuitton over a cover on CSNA, his short-lived art journal, a picture of a bare-breasted model wearing a bondage mask recycled from an old Vuitton bag. Good ideas never die:The image has been purchased by the Chicago Fetish Museum. Will Vuitton beg to buy from them? It wouldn’t surprise me.
Features & Details
- Primary Category: Arts & Photography Books
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Project Option: Standard Portrait, 7.75×9.75 in, 20×25 cm
# of Pages: 80 - Publish Date: Jul 28, 2010
- Language English
- Keywords performance art, New York City, fashion, portraits, downtown, artists, models
About the Creator
WALT CESSNA IS A WRITER, PHOTOGRAPHER AND FORMER FASHION DESIGNER WHO STARTED HIS CAREER IN FASHION AS A VOGUE OBSESSED THIRTEEN YEAR OLD EVENTUALLY WORKING WITH THE LIKES OF KNOCKOFF KING AND DRESS MOGUL JACK "FAST JACK" MULQUEEN, AND DESIGNER NORMA KAMALI. IN THE YEARS TO COME HE ESTABLISHED HIMSELF AS A FASHION DESIGNER WITH HIS MUCH ACCLAIMED DOM CASUAL LABEL, DESIGNING AND SELF-PRODUCING A LINE OF MEN'S AND WOMEN'S SPORTSWEAR. OVER THE YEARS HIS SHORT STORIES HAVE APPEARED IN VARIOUS MAGAZINES SUCH AS PAPER AS WELL AS NUMEROUS BLOGS. HIS PHOTOGRAPHY WORK CAN BE FOUND VIRTUALLY ANYWHERE ON THE INTERNET AS WELL AS IN HIS PUBLISHED PHOTOGRAPHY COLLECTIONS FUKT 2 START WIT AND WOLFPACK! VACZINE is his 4th inde publication following The Key 82-85, STOP 89-91 & CSNA 03 the last of which he was sued by Louis Vuitton over the cover featuring a model sporting a faux LV monogrammed bondage mask. Google it bitches. HE CURRENTLY LIVES IN NEW YORK CITY.