Potentially Queer: Mass Cultural Images in Vanity Fair and George Platt Lynes’s Scrapbooks

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines George Platt Lynes’s scrapbooks, highlighting their role in the queer cultural narrative of the 1930s. Lynes, a key figure in New York’s queer artistic circle, blended personal and mass media images in his scrapbooks, including Vanity Fair clippings. These collections reflect the era’s subtle queer expressions and provide unique insights into queer history and media. Focusing on a Cary Grant photograph from Vanity Fair, the article discusses the multifaceted interpretations of visual media in understanding queer narratives within modernism and modernity and emphasizes the integral role of queerness within these frameworks.