Folly of Gossip

Folly of Gossip. It's packed full of sauce, rumour, glamour, trash, and filth!

Back in 1993 Tom Luscombe took a class in black and white photography. He was already working as a costume designer for a few drag legends on Oxford Street. For his first project, he photographed Cindy Pastel, Victoria Bitter, and Bernina Bod at the Albury Hotel. Unbeknownst to him, Victoria, was simultaneously doing 'day drag' as the Arts Editor of Capital Q Newspaper. Upon seeing the images he’d captured of her and Cindy, Victoria offered Tom a job on the spot as the newspaper’s social pages photographer. During 1993 and 1994, he was paid to go out four nights a week, shooting all manner of queer happenings. He had access to all areas, performances, and some amazing parties, public and not so public...

 Out of his archive of negatives from those years, he has put together a book called Folly of Gossip. It's packed full of sauce, rumour, glamour, trash, and filth!

"We were a collection of queer communities under terrible strain from the ravages of HIV/AIDS. We were a people relentlessly barraged by numerous, ridiculous phobias, discrimination, and vilification, which sadly continues to this day.  However... despite both the endemic and daily challenges we faced, what strikes me most about the collection is the shared sense of joy running through that the images. We were united in our determined pursuit of pleasure. It was the feverish, hedonistic, primal dance, just before the dawn.We weren't to know, but just around the corner was the introduction of combination antiretroviral therapies in 1995. This medical saviour changed the lives of our brothers and sisters across the world. It was too late for so many, but such a boon for those left."

Folly of Gossip is your window to that far off time, the glittering, golden age of Oxford Street. Nostalgia is one of the most powerful drugs of all, and this book is steeped in it.

Photographer: Tom Luscombe

Hardcover  Published 3 March 2023  208 pages