For years, photographer George Platt Lynes worked in two different worlds: He was a successful advertising and fashion photographer in the 1930s and ’40s, who created iconic images and portraits of famous people in his New York studio. All the while, Lynes poured his passion and energy into creating thousands of underground photographs of the male body in all its glory.

This film tells the story of a pioneer of gay erotic photography using the archive of Lynes’ nudes – thousands of photographs are presented on the screen alongside the story of their creator’s brief life in New York and Los Angeles, his great love and heartbreak, and his tremendous talent. Lynes’ work is a testament to the vibrant world of the LGBTQ community in the first half of the 20th century – a uniquely colorful community even if it’s presented here in black-and-white images.