Two Men’s French Polynesia Travel Album, July 1985
Item #1636
Circa July 1985. Large oblong post-bound album, 13" x 14.75", containing approximately 130 glossy color photographs of various sizes, including several larger prints around 8" x 10", mounted on 55 double-sided black paper leaves, each protected by a clear plastic overlay, in a bright purple album.
A vivid and unusually well-preserved personal travel album documenting a multi-island trip through French Polynesia in July 1985. The compiler did not merely mount snapshots, but created a scrapbook-like archive incorporating maps, luggage labels, airline material, hotel pieces, festival notices, menus, schedules, and other souvenirs alongside the photographs.
A typed itinerary from Tahiti Nui Travel lays out the journey in detail: arrival in Tahiti on 6 July 1985, then onward travel through Huahine, Bora Bora, Rangiroa, and Moorea, before return to Tahiti and international departure later in the month. Additional inserted matter includes UTA boarding passes, Air Polynésie baggage labels and timetables, island maps, Hotel Bora Bora pieces, Kia Ora Village material for Rangiroa and Moorea, and Bali Hai Hotels ephemera for Huahine, including a printed Dinner Spectacle menu. Also present are festival and performance references, including a “fête de Juillet 1985” page with dance photographs and a typed program in French.
The photographs themselves are equally appealing, and the sizes range from a typical snapshot size to large 8" x 10" ish sized photos. They include resort and beach scenes, reefs and lagoons, rocky shorelines, waterfalls, sunsets, flower and botanical studies, sailing and hotel views, and numerous informal yet carefully posed portraits of the two male travelers. Some images have an overtly theatrical or camp quality: the men pose in pareos, among oversized tropical leaves, at waterfalls, on beaches, and in staged glamour-style portraits. One especially striking vertical photograph shows one traveler standing nude behind palm fronds, clearly part of the album’s playful and self-conscious visual tone.
The album also includes images of local dance performances, a tattooed Polynesian man, hotel entertainment, and at least one social page with a handwritten farewell note from acquaintances met on the trip. Altogether, the combination of snapshots, eroticized and performative self-portraiture, and abundant travel ephemera gives the album exceptional personality and documentary value.
A substantial and visually rich vernacular archive of gay or gay-adjacent male travel culture in the South Pacific in the mid-1980s, with far more supporting ephemera than is usually found in personal vacation albums.
Very good overall, with minor expected wear. The glossy photographs and plastic protective covers create reflections that make the album difficult to photograph well; it is considerably more attractive in person than in pictures. Images are brighter, clearer, and more appealing in hand than they appear in reproduced views.
Price: $450.00