New York Magazine - USA (2020-10-12)

october12–25, 2020 | newyork 65

afterthat, Toddwasinessencemy singularreader. I always
hadanextra firsthand-boundcopymade,onetoshowto
theadvertisersandonetosendtoTodd.
Youwere livinginBaltimoreintheyearsbeforeNest??I’d
sortof madea tombformyselfinthisvery grandoldWaspy
apartment.I wasa neighborofMr. T. RowePrice.I was
kindof flounderinginBaltimore.Basically, I spenttheaids
yearsjusttakingcareof people.I didn’t havetowork;I vol-
unteered.I wasintheNew Yorkscene,andmy boyfriend
becamesickinBaltimore,andthat’s whenI movedback.
Myfatherboughtmethisapartment,andI spentyears
heresortofhoningmy craft.
Andyougottotheideaofmakinga magazineafterworking
ona bookproject?I starteddoinga bookwithDerry Moore
[Henry DermotPonsonbyMoore,12thearlof Drogheda,a Brit-

ishphotographer],andthisis reallywhat

happened:I hadhiswholearchiveav ail-

able,andwewereputtingtogethera really

beautiful book,andCarl [Skoggard,

Holtzman’s husbandandNestcollabora-

tor]waswritingit, andthenI said,“Derry,

we’vegottoshootsomethingmodern,”

andI founda friendofmine—hisnameis

AidenShaw;youmightknowthename

fromSexandtheCity,buthe’s aniconic

gaypornstarartist—andI shothiscoun-

cilflat. Afterward,hesaid,“Youknow, it

soundslikeyoudon’t doanything;you

justtalk.” Andthenhesaid,“Youknow, youshouldstartyour

ownmagazine.”Sohewaslistedonthemastheadasthe



Raymond Donahue’s bedroom—in the attic of his mother’s New Jersey home—was featured in the first issue of Nest in 1997. The walls and ceiling

were covered in photocopies of actress Farrah Fawcett’s magazine covers. Donahue’s mother gave him the beanbag chair for Christmas in 1980.

PREVIOUS SPREAD: COURTESY THE BEST OF NEST, BY TODD OLDHAM; PHOTOGRAPHS BY DOUG BROWN (ADAM’S ROOMS). COURTESY THE BEST OF NEST, BY TODD OLDHAM; TEXT BY OLIVER RAY; PHOTOGRAPHS BY JASON EJLAT FEUER (EJLAT FEUER’S THE WORKHOUSE). COURTESY THE BEST OF NEST, BY TODD OLDHAM; TEXT BY JOSEPH HOLTZMAN; PHOTOGRAPHS BY JASON SCHMIDT (ANDRÉ LEON TALLEY). COURTESY THE BEST OF NEST, BY TODD OLDHAM; TEXT BY ARLENE SWATCH; PHOTOGRAPHS BY EVELYN HOFER (JOSEPH HOLTZMAN). THIS SPREAD: COURTESY THE BEST OF NEST, BY TODD OLDHAM; TEXT BY VALERIE STEELE; PHOTOGRAPHS BY JASON SCHMIDT (FARRAH FAWCETT).