Amos Mac

{{Short description|American writer, photographer and publisher}}

{{Infobox artist

| honorific_prefix =

| name = Amos Mac

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| birth_place = Augusta, Georgia

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| nationality = American

| education =

| alma_mater = The New School

| known_for = Photographer, writer, and publisher

| notable_works = "Original Plumbing"

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| website = https://www.amosmac.com/

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Amos Mac (born 1981){{citation needed|date=January 2019}} is an American writer, photographer and a publisher from Augusta, Georgia. Mac is based in Los Angeles as a writer for television and film .{{Cite web|last=Mac|first=Amos|title=Amos Mac Official|url=http://www.amosmac.com}}

Early life

He grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.{{Cite news|url=http://www.out.com/art-books/2015/7/24/amos-mac-trans-heartthrob|title=Amos Mac: Trans Heartthrob|last=Sharkey|first=M|date=2015-07-24|work=OUT Magazine|access-date=2016-11-29}}

''Original Plumbing''

As a trans man, he co-founded and became editor in chief of Original Plumbing,{{Cite news|last=Trebay|first=Guy|date=2010-08-11|title=Original Plumbing Magazine Finds Its Audience|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/12/fashion/12gimlet.html|access-date=2016-11-29|issn=0362-4331}} a magazine that focuses on the culture of female-to-male trans men and sexuality.{{Cite web|title=Original Plumbing official website|url=http://www.originalplumbing.com/|access-date=2016-11-29|archive-date=2016-10-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003054435/http://originalplumbing.com/|url-status=dead}} Mac chose Original Plumbing's title as a playful take on the obsession the media has with the genitalia of trans people.{{Cite news|last=Teeman|first=Tim|date=2016-12-03|title=The Truth About Being Trans: Caitlyn Jenner and Others Open Up in HBO's 'The Trans List'|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/12/03/the-truth-about-being-trans-caitlyn-jenner-and-others-open-up-in-hbo-s-the-trans-list.html|access-date=2016-12-03|website=The Daily Beast}} To express and explore his culture of being a trans man in the United States, he and his friend Rocco Kayiatos started the magazine Original Plumbing in 2009 while they were both living in San Francisco.{{Cite news|url=https://www.autostraddle.com/trans-photographer-amos-mac-the-autostraddle-interview-33746/?all=1|title=Trans Photographer Amos Mac: The Autostraddle Interview|last=Jones|first=Laneia|date=2010-02-20|newspaper=Autostraddle|language=en-US|access-date=2016-11-29}}

Photography and other notable work

As a visual artist, Mac's photography have appeared in The New York Times, Vogue Italia, BUTT Magazine, and OUT.

In 2011, he went on a national tour with feminist art group Sister Spit where he showcased photographs, read his writing and spoke candidly about trans representation in the media.{{Cite news|url=http://www.afterellen.com/people/84977-sister-spit-readies-their-new-spring-tour|title=Sister Spit readies their new spring tour - AfterEllen|date=2011-02-21|newspaper=AfterEllen|language=en-US|access-date=2016-12-03}}

In 2015 Amos Mac photographed a campaign for H&M's sister brand, & Other Stories, which became the first fashion campaign created by an all-transgender cast and crew.{{Cite news|url=http://www.vogue.com/13294979/and-other-stories-transgender-campaign/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150819233941/http://www.vogue.com/13294979/and-other-stories-transgender-campaign|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 19, 2015|title=The Transgender Gaze in the New & Other Stories Campaign|last=Garcia|first=Patricia|date=2015-08-14|newspaper=Vogue|language=en-US|access-date=2016-11-29}} The campaign featured models Hari Nef and Valentijn De Hingh.{{Cite news|url=http://www.refinery29.com/and-other-stories-transgender-campaign#slide|title=& Other Stories' Transgender Fashion Campaign Is A Major First|last=Peoples|first=Landon|date=2015-08-14|newspaper=Refinery29|access-date=2016-11-29}}

In June 2016, it was announced that Mac would be featured in The Trans List{{Cite news|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/trans-list-provincetown-review-905736|title='The Trans List': Provincetown Review|last=Rooney|first=David|date=2016-06-22|newspaper=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=2016-11-29}} an HBO documentary film produced by Janet Mock along with director Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. Mock also interviews the cast, which features ten prominent transgender figures besides Mac: Laverne Cox, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, Buck Angel, Kylar Broadus, Caroline Cossey, Shane Ortega, Alok Vaid-Menon, Nicole Maines, Bamby Salcedo and Caitlyn Jenner.

In The Trans List, Mac describes his life before transitioning. "I really don't know why I was waiting for so long," Mac says. "It seemed like it was no longer an option for my sanity or for my health. I had to stop spending so much time trying to cover up my emotions and my problems, and I had to deal with myself."{{Cite news|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/z-on-tv-blog/bs-ae-zontv-trans-list-hbo-20161123-story.html|title=HBO's 'The Trans List' a powerful, personal exploration of transgender identity|last=Zurawik|first=David|newspaper=baltimoresun.com|access-date=2016-11-29}}

Amos Mac sat for photographer Mark Seliger for his 2016 book of photographs On Christopher Street: Transgender Stories.{{cite web |url=https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/on-christopher-street-mark-seliger/1124017558 |title=On Christopher Street: Transgender Stories |website=Barnes & Noble |access-date=March 16, 2021}}

Film and television

Mac currently works in Los Angeles, California on television shows and films. It was announced in October 2019 that Amos would be a writer for the Gossip Girl reboot for HBO Max.{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/theamosmac/status/1179190623720464385|title=Hey Upper East Siders – Excited to announce I'm a writer for the new Gossip Girl series, truly honored to bring all the hot goss on the Manhattan elite to your viewing-screen-machines soon!|last=Mac|first=Amos|date=2019-10-01|website=@theamosmac|language=en|access-date=2019-10-15}}

With Aisling Chin-Yee, Mac co-wrote No Ordinary Man, a Canadian documentary that premiered at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival.{{Cite web|title=No Ordinary Man|url=https://tiff.net/events/no-ordinary-man |access-date=2020-09-14|website=TIFF|language=en}} The film is a portrait of Billy Tipton, the influential jazz musician who was revealed after his death to have been transgender.{{Cite web|last=Tallerico|first=Brian|title=TIFF 2020: No Ordinary Man, MLK/FBI, The Boy from Medellin {{!}} Festivals & Awards|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/festivals/tiff-2020-no-ordinary-man-mlkfbi-the-boy-from-medellin|access-date=2020-09-14|website=rogerebert.com|date=12 September 2020 |language=en}}

Honors and recognition

In 2014, Mac was named to the Trans 100 list for "outstanding contributions to the trans community."{{Cite web|date=2014-04-07|title=Complete 2014 Trans 100 List Released to the General Public|url=http://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2014/04/07/complete-2014-trans-100-list-released-general-public|access-date=2021-06-17|website=www.advocate.com|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=2014|title=The Trans 100|url=http://www.thetrans100.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Trans_100_2014_Booklet_Update_9.pdf}}

In 2018, after being named a Lambda Literary Writers' Retreat Fellow for Emerging LGBT Voices,{{Cite web|last=Gentes|first=Brian|date=2018-09-06|title=Introducing Lambda Literary's 2018 Emerging Writers Retreat Fellows|url=https://www.lambdaliterary.org/introducing-lambda-literarys-2018-emerging-writers-retreat-fellows/|access-date=2019-04-15|website=Lambda Literary}} it was announced that Mac was writing a young adult novel.

References