James Baldwin, one of the most prominent figures in American literature, rose to the highest of literary heights from the most trying of circumstances. Born into a poor Harlem family, he had to contend with an abusive stepfather. Despite the deplorable quality of Harlem's public schools, Baldwin mana

African american fiction, Angry, Homoerotic, Masculine, Psychological, Queer literature, Religious

Newton is best known for his sexually and psychologically ambiguous mise-en-scenes, which stretched the boundaries of European fashion photography in the mid 1970s. The "divine decadence" of pre-war Berlin permeates much of his work, from setting to props, from technique to psychological feel. Newton

Erotic, Fashion photography, Intense, Phallic, Power, Psychological, Sexy

Jean-Paul Gaultier is a gleefully outrageous designer, a man who habitually defies or ignores the standard definitions of style and sensibility. He has brought kitsch into the mainstream of Couture, along with fetishism, male cross-dressing, and any number of other wild and innovative concepts. Ga

Existentialist fashion, Grotesque, Psychological, Queer literature, Rock 'n' roll, Whimsical

With an unerring ability both to describe evil and to place himself in its path, Polanski has created a body of work that never fails to elicit shudders and raise questions. He possesses a mordant insight into the politics of sex and violence, an inherent feel for the macabre, and an eccentric and

Erotic, Excessive, Homoerotic, Perverse, Polish new wave, Psychological