Gabor Sipos

For those who don’t know you, how would you describe yourself and what you do ?

If I had to introduce myself as an artist right now, I would say I am a photographer of masculinity and sincerity. In my studio projects, I like to showcase all kinds of bodies, celebrating diversity and openness towards every form. With the Instant Moments project, I started sharing my most intimate and random moments, and eventually began taking photographs on nudist beaches, capturing both friends and strangers.

How does your identity as a gay bear influence your artistic voice ?

Most of my photos are of bears, and partly documentary work at the beach, but I share them openly with everyone. Maybe that has an influence, though I never thought much about it—I just follow the themes that feel closest to me. I believe being part of the bear community inevitably shapes everything I do. My gaze is not neutral: it’s marked by desire, empathy, and a sense of complicity with other men. Being a bear means living in a body outside the dominant standards, and that gives me a different sensitivity when portraying male beauty.

What’s your creative process? How do you approach a new piece, concept or project?

Sometimes my creative process comes from a completely random encounter with someone I want to photograph, and other times from a more planned idea. With Polaroid, many sessions arise from pure spontaneity: a walk on the beach, a ray of light that inspires me. Drawing, on the other hand, is a slower and more meticulous process, almost meditative.

The contrast between your photography projects caught my attention – while your work can be carefully composed and polished, it can also be incredibly raw, direct and in-your-face, like the Instant Moments collection. Tell us about both formats.

In the studio, I always try to create honest portraits that reflect people’s personalities, using beautiful light and a simplicity that leaves room for authenticity. I’m interested in showing the diversity of bodies and capturing something intimate in each session.

With Instant Moments I pursue something different: revealing more of my own reality and what surrounds me in everyday life, whether on nudist beaches or in bed. It’s also an act of sincerity, with a touch of documentary style, captured with instant cameras.

The more polished series allow me to build a solid narrative and think of the work as a whole. But the rawer collections, like Instant Moments, give me absolute freedom: they are stolen instants, honest, almost confessional. Both bring me joy, but in different ways: one is deliberate construction, the other is pure life.

I first came across your work through your #pointsandlines pieces. These are incredibly detailed – what led you to this technique and long does it usually take to finish one piece?

When I can’t go to the beach and I’m at home, I like to spend time on my pointillism drawings. It’s a slow but very relaxing, almost therapeutic process, and the result has something quite special: even an explicit scene can turn into a delicate, beautiful image to hang on the wall. Depending on the size, a piece can take me anywhere from 10 to 70 hours. For larger works, like 70×50 cm, using dots as small as 0.5 mm, the pace is extremely slow… but that’s also what makes it beautiful: it’s a work of patience, calm, and detail.

You have a collection of projects called #thisisnotai – Can you tell us more about it and how you see the role of AI in LGBT and bear art today?

I don’t like it. Artificial intelligence can be a very helpful tool in many contexts, but when it’s used to replace art within the community —in events, bars, or publications— it often results in poor-quality work that doesn’t really contribute. This makes things harder for artists and isn’t constructive for the community. My negative opinion is only about using AI to “make art.” From other perspectives, I completely understand its usefulness.

Is there a particular piece of yours that you’re especially proud of or that has a special story behind it?

When it comes to a session, my favorite is always the most recent one: the latest experience, the last encounter, what still feels fresh in my memory. But when it comes to projects, the most personal and heartfelt for me is always when I select my works and bring them together as a collection seen from my own perspective. The crowdfunding for my book was my biggest and most ambitious project so far. And right now, the most personal one is the fanzine I’m releasing with the Instant Moments series.

Who are the artists or creators that inspire you?

I enjoy art in general and follow many artists. But if I had to name the ones who inspired me the most, I’d say probably Andy Warhol and Robert Mapplethorpe, because in the field of instant photography they were the ones who influenced me the most. My favorite photographer is definitely William Eggleston. And within the bear art world, I really admire and follow Polleiro, José Manuel Hortelano, Anthony P. Maniero, and Gian Orso.