Robert Giard Photograph Collection

Robert Giard was an American landscape and portrait photographer (1939 – 2002). He was best known for his portrait series of queer poets and writers titled Particular Voices. He graduated from Yale in 1961 with a B.A in English literature, and later in 1965 from Boston University with an M.A. in Comparative Literature. His portrait collection of queer writers is said to have been inspired by Larry Kramer’s play The Normal Heart. He aspired to record the lives of queer artists as a record of their experiences with the AIDs epidemic and oppression in American society. His work reflects the growing prominence of queer writers at the end of the 20th century. By the end of his life he is said to have photographed over 600 portraits, some of which have been placed in collections throughout the U.S. Many of his portraits were hand-printed from his home.