Chronicling the 13 boys he met couch-surfing across Europe one summer, Brett Lloyd’s covetable self-published book The Quieter Poster Boys is made up of 15 poster portraits and a folded Bible paper booklet documenting his experiences. “It was a road trip in 2008. I had borrowed my friend’s analogue Nikon FM3A and when I got back to London, I wanted to make a collection of my favourite experiences. The end result was this book,” explains Brett. “I specifically chose really delicate papers to print the posters on, and the book – fragile, to be handled with care – was a good way to translate the tone of the piece, stories and boys.” Intimate and innocent, there is a beautiful vulnerability and sensitivity to Brett’s portraits, each accompanied by text describing their meeting. Despite only communicating with several of the boys through MySpace before meeting them, (one is an ex and another a current boyfriend,) Brett describes their connection as “instant, more precious than the ones we’re tied to by blood. These boys gave me their souls for those few moments I was with them.” Since taking the portraits, friendships have evolved with all his subjects and his voyages seem to be evolving into a way of life; Brett has just returned from travelling with one of his subjects, Alessandro, while working on a similar project over the summer.
Text by Lucia Davies
The Quieter Poster Boys is available at Dashwood Books, Claire De Rouen, Hennessey + Ingalls, and Yvon Lambert Bookshop.
Book Credits: Words: Dean Mayo Davies, Art Direction: Laura Rule and Edward Quarmby, Images edit with: Kim Jones, Design: Edward Quarmby, Printing: Boss Print.
