Take yourself back in time, before cell phones and before the internet. The late 80’s, early 90’s. The only real way for gay, kinky people to connect was either by bars/clubs (and I was too shy and underage), call in phone lines, newspaper ads, or magazines.
In the early 90’s, there was an “underground” zine and book shop in Los Angeles called AMOK Books (they still exist in a limited capacity online). They sold a lot of indie zines on subversive culture: drugs, weapons, murder, new age/alternative medicine, and gay/kink. To be honest, I wasn’t into most of it (although was a bit fascinated to read about them), but the gay kink was of obvious interest. It was there I ran into a very (even for the time) low budget zine called “Zach” (wrote about that more here). It was literally black and white photocopied pages stapled together, but it was of a hot guy who was tied up. It was my first viewing of explicit male bondage and it affected me so much, I remember immediately running to my car, flipping through it, and jacking off right there in the parking lot behind the store.
As it turns out, this zine was the first published by a guy named Rick Castro, who became a leading underground publisher in LA of gay male bondage in the 90’s. Sometimes he did the bondage work himself, and sometimes he collected the work of other bondage photographers and artists. His zines had a very raw, subversive, and crudely made edge to them that made them compelling, especially in an age where you really couldn’t find anything else like this (remember, no internet). It was wild, and I was seeing things I didn’t even know were possible, let alone the fact that there were others out there brave enough to create, realize, and photograph something like this. It was a real eye opener that left a huge impression on allowing me to access my kinky side, and I’ve never forgotten it.
Once the internet did come around, there was really no need for him to create these sorts of zines, so I believe he mostly stopped making them. I’m not entirely certain of the circumstances. I must admit I had mostly lost track, as by then, the internet became the place to find kinky porn. Even so, I would still see copies pop up at the occasional gay bookstore.
So imagine my surprise when I attended an indie zine event recently in Los Angeles… and look who was selling their old material. Yes, I got to meet and talk with Rick Castro himself! (I did ask his permission to take his picture.)
For me personally, it was a bit of a surreal experience. I had no idea he would be there. I mostly attended this zine event because it stated there would be some vintage gay kink present, but I didn’t know he’d be there personally. I almost didn’t know what to say to him. I saw he was selling the above pictured Bondage Book, which I had seen before in my early adult years, but had never actually bought. And as I was flipping through it, he said, “You know this is my work, right?” I nearly turned into a giggly teen girl.
I did share with him that I did remember and had “Zach” (and I still have it to this day!). He told me to keep it, it was a collector’s item, and hoped I had masturbated to it. Which I told him I had (although I didn’t tell him it was in the parking lot, lol). He also reminded me of the story/interview that also appears in the “Zach” zine on how they meet: he saw this hustler get off a bus in Santa Monica, offered to photograph him on the spot, and he agreed and shared his wild backstory (Zach had a pretty crazy life, if it’s to be believed). The event inspired Rick himself to approach other guys for shoots, many of which are fairly well known pics today–I encourage you to google some of his work.
In any case, I did finally come full circle and buy the Bondage Book, which he then very kindly autographed. It’s in the pic above! He also now works with the Tom of Finland foundation (also based in Los Angeles–Tom of Finland lived here for many years and created much of his work while in LA), and hosts a open social tea there every Wednesday for $10, which he invited me to (!). Not sure if I’ll go yet, but it is on my radar.
Coincidentally, I did visit the Tom of Finland house just to see it (I didn’t go in), which is in a residential area of LA not all that far from me. You can see it and read a bit more about it at Atlas Obscura.
You can also read more about Rick Castro on his Wikipedia page.
If anyone would like, maybe I could post a few pics from the books? Out of respect for the author, I would not post sets in their entirety. But I can do a few sample pics, if I get enough requests.
