Silver Boys

Words: Ralf Obergfell

You and I lived on a quiet road in North London’s Seven Sisters.

We shared a big Victorian house with a landlord and six others – all from Manchester.

We didn’t like curtains. So, we decided to cover our big bedroom window with a large mesh blind.

The sun would draw shadowy sketches on our naked skin through the silver mesh.

You took me into an unknown world and brought out a creativity I never knew I had.

We’d go to Trade on Sundays at 5am, walking through Muscle Alley, and I’d come up to Tony de Vit’s pumping Hard House feeling icy shivers down my spine.

As you embarked on your dance floor ‘hunting’ missions, I’d wonder “Where’s my lover?”

You liked to draw and write about the boys you chased, kissed and had sex with on those blurry nights.

Your objects of desire caused a pain I wasn’t used to.

“My love for you is unconditional”, you said, although I might have misheard.

We parted ways and moved out of Seven Sisters.

You settled in Hoxton Square and I in London Fields.

I only kept one item from our time together – the silver mesh blind.

As dark clouds passed and days became sunnier again, I started experimenting.

That same silver mesh became the photography backdrop for my Silver Boys collection – still reflecting its colourful patterns.

But this time as a homage to all the council estate lads you’d once been preying on.