CHARLES GATEWOOD IS IN CRITICAL CONDIDTION

CHARLES GATEWOOOD is a well known photographer in the fetish world. he created groundbreaking images of the san francisco sex scene during the late 60s, 70s & 80s. i had the pleasure of being in a show with charles back in the 90s at the RITA DEAN gallery in san diego. the gallery eventually closed ,moved to hollywood and became the museum of death. as a dedication to charles i am reposted this announcement from annie sprinkle-  (UPDATE- sadly charles passed on 4/28/16).. he will be missed- his iconic photography will live on))

Very sad news today. I know that many of you, my dear friends, will know Charles Gatewood and/or his incredible photography and video work. 

Sorry to say this morning, "Chaz" went off the third story balcony of his apartment on Bernal Hill (San Francisco) and is "in critical condition." He is also "stabilized"-- intubated and unconscious at this time. 

I was at the hospital today for about 5 hours with his girlfriend Eva, his past girlfriend Tiana, longtime friends Michael Rosen, Tim, and Ron Turner. Five of us got to go into Charle's ICU room and be with him for a little while and give him our love and speak to him. Eva and I felt that Chaz could hear us, but he did not respond. 

As Charles is in very critical condition, I will go ahead and post some details so you can know more. There isn't time to waste and word is of course traveling fast through our communities. Please send him some love. I do think he can feel your good thoughts and well wishes. Love is real and feels good. 

No one knows exactly what happened, however it was possibly a suicide attempt (he had been talking to friends about such things) since having a lot of back pain for a long time and some brain issues. From the fall he has two broken ankles and a broken pelvic bone. He has internal bleeding, and they said he got a lot of blood transfusions.
He actually looked quite good, and peaceful, even with all the tubes.

If you want to visit, you can private message me and I'll give you the information. Meanwhile, big group hug. I'm sure Charles would totally appreciate some morbid humor in my post but am just not feeling it. Charles was a very important person to me in the 1980s, my photography mentor, an occasional lover, collaborator, and dear valued friend. While we haven't been close in the past two decades, we have kept in touch. I do hope he will not suffer. 

It's a very good thing that Charles' invaluable, remarkable archive was bought by UC Berkley over a year ago, and they will take good care of it and it will be available for research. 

I was grateful to be there with him and his lovely chosen family today. He has many friends. His only blood family is his sister, and they have not been close. She was contacted. Chaz is 73 years old. 

Photo of Charles Gatewood (L), Spider Webb (R) and I circa 1980s,- ANNIE SPRINKLE