How Photographer Christopher Sherman Turns His Subjects Into Superstars

WEDNESDAY 7:34 PM OCTOBER 8 2025 TORONTO

If there’s anyone who could wrangle a couple hundred of Toronto’s hottest gays into one room on a weekday evening in autumn, it’s the photographer and prince of horniness Christopher Sherman. The occasion for this particular gathering was the opening of Sherman’s first solo show, Your Shame Bores Me, on view through October 18th at Yabu Pushelberg’s Toronto gallery. The crowd was sexy and so were the images lining the walls; bare torsos, flexed arms, and come-hither gazes from friends, lovers, and celebrities alike—frequent Interview readers will know his images of Paul Rudd, David Cronenberg, and Anne Carson—all united by that special Christopher Sherman magic touch. After a fabulous panel discussion honoring Canadian television legend Jeanne Baker, followed by a few hours of bumping shoulders with Canadian hotties, I somehow managed to pull Christopher aside for a “pretzel break” (we’re both non-smokers) and a quick chat to discuss just how horny a cigarette can be.

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CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN: I think I had an opening tonight, but I have no memory.

JACK VHAY: How are you feeling?

SHERMAN: My mind is gone, but I’m super happy.

VHAY: Yeah, I imagine you’re a bit dazed at the moment.

SHERMAN: Well, I also decided to shoot the opening myself. 

VHAY: Why?

SHERMAN: Because I thought, “No one’s going to shoot my show like I’m going to shoot my show.” 

VHAY: Which is true.

SHERMAN I think that’s the photographer perspective, where you see people who come in and shoot these events and you’re like, “I could do this.” And I proved to myself tonight that I was going to.

VHAY: Yeah, you managed. So this is supposed to be a Smoke Break. I asked you earlier if you smoked, but you do not smoke. So, we have a pretzel instead.

SHERMAN: We have a pretzel instead.

VHAY: Yeah.

SHERMAN: And we’re in Canada where weed is very legal, and I will be having a joint shortly.

VHAY: That’s perfect. So, you have a podcast, The Horny Podcast.

SHERMAN: The Horny Podcast.

VHAY: One of the questions you ask people is, “What is your favorite horny brand?” And I want to know, since this is a Smoke Break, what is the most horny cigarette brand?

SHERMAN: For me, it’s going to always be Marlboro.

VHAY: Isn’t it? I knew that was the answer, and I wrote that in my notes. “It’s Marlboro and there’s no other answer.”

SHERMAN: No, there isn’t.

VHAY: It’s because of those ads.

SHERMAN: The ads, the packaging, the design, the color, the typeface. You can’t look away.

VHAY: It’s the Marlboro man.

SHERMAN: The Marlboro man, especially when we were younger, was the epitome of sex and sexiness.

VHAY: So you took that in?

SHERMAN: Oh, yeah. I was always looking for hints of homoeroticism in advertising, and you would find it in the most random places. The Marlboro man was one of the most homoerotic, sexually charged ad characters.

VHAY: The ads are just so beautiful. When I flipped through the archives, especially in the 90s, they’re unbeatable. They work.

SHERMAN: They work. They’re incredible.

VHAY: So, cigarettes, horny? Not horny?

SHERMAN: I have to tell you, I don’t smoke regularly, but if you put me in a European city and you’re sitting with a bunch of beautiful people, the cigarette looks better. They taste better, feel better.

VHAY: Were you ever a smoker?

SHERMAN: No, but my mom smoked and so I feel like we always become the opposite of whatever our parents were.

VHAY: I’m not a smoker, really. I’ve had two of my own cigarettes ever in my life. The first one, you’ll love this, was at the Studio 54 Valentino party. I smoked my first full cigarette, a Vogue, at Studio 54, and then stamped it out on the carpet.

SHERMAN: But that feels right.

VHAY: It was perfect. I was like, “If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen here.”

SHERMAN: Yeah. How did it make you feel?

VHAY: Well, it obviously made me feel really cool, which is unfortunate. I mean, I’m not going to run back for the flavor, I guess. 

SHERMAN: There is something about having a cigarette in your hand. I actually love photographing people with cigarettes in their hand, in their life, in the shot. I always think that it adds this dimension of eroticism.

VHAY: Well, that’s always in the culture, right? In visual language, it’s abrasive.

SHERMAN: But also it’s bringing attention to the mouth.

VHAY: Totally. It’s very phallic.

SHERMAN: It’s very phallic. 

VHAY: Completely. It’s just like, you’re sucking on this thing. Very horny.

SHERMAN: Cigarettes are horny.

VHAY: Cigarettes after sex is such a thing, not the band, but–

SHERMAN: I was literally going to say to you, I have so many memories of watching television or movies, and after a really hot sex scene, what do they do? Smoke.

VHAY: Yeah. How’s the pretzel?

SHERMAN: So good. This is my first meal.

VHAY: This is your first meal today, are you serious?

SHERMAN: Well, since breakfast. We did have lunch.

VHAY: You forgot lunch.

RAPHAEL SANCHEZ: We had lunch together. Sorry to interrupt your interview.

VHAY: No, Raph, you’re officially in the interview now. What did you think of Christopher’s performance today?

SANCHEZ: I’m so proud of him.

VHAY: What was the crowd like tonight? Who are we seeing tonight?

SHERMAN: Beauty, beauty everywhere. Queer, queer everywhere.

VHAY: It was a really hot crowd.

SHERMAN: It was a really hot crowd. Everyone brought their fashion, everyone brought their attitude, everyone brought their horny energy.

VHAY: Case in point.

SHERMAN: When you look at the fashion photos from this party, it could easily be a good editorial.

VHAY: On top of that, everyone also is just so lovely too.

SHERMAN: We are in Toronto, Canada.

VHAY: I know. Well, this is my second time here, and it lives up to it. Alright, we covered cigarettes after sex.

SANCHEZ: Have you not had one?

VHAY: After sex? No.

SANCHEZ: Or like a joint? Do you smoke weed?

VHAY: I’m more of an edible person.

SHERMAN: Edible after sex?

SANCHEZ: It doesn’t hit the same.

VHAY: It’s not the same.

SANCHEZ: The smoke in the air lingering…

VHAY: Yeah, it’s much hotter. So we have to talk about Jeanne first of all, because this is really her night. I mean it’s your night, it’s your first solo show, but I’m just getting into the world of Jeanne. She is so amazing and you guys have such a special relationship. I didn’t realize the full extent of it. Talk about Jeanne.

SHERMAN: So, Jeanne Beker is truly an icon of television. Her TV show, Fashion Television, kind of changed the way that everyday people interacted with fashion. When I became her producer, I got to go to so many shows and that actually opened me up to the scope of magic of people, of creativity, of queerness. It was another world to be able to walk into these rooms and meet Andre Leon Talley and Tom Ford and Marc Jacobs. And it was a time before Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, it was so early on that it was very insular, and it was an incredible experience. But what I love most about Jeanne is she takes her personality and brings it into the storytelling. And her personality is really about a joy for life, a celebration of life.

VHAY: It really is. It’s addictive to listen to. You can’t help but take in that energy. 

SHERMAN: She’s amazing. I have to tell you, when I did the intro speech tonight, it was the first time I’ve ever done it without crying. I thought that was a great achievement.

VHAY: That is an achievement. 

SHERMAN: Both of my pockets are stuffed with Kleenex. I was totally prepared to start sobbing. But when you’re looking at a huge audience of people you’re like, “I don’t feel like crying in front of these people today.”

VHAY: “All these people who I know, who are staring back.”

SHERMAN: Yeah, totally.

VHAY: I was moved by everything she said. Can’t wait to see her on Project Runway Canada.

SHERMAN: I was working with her on that show. You can see the designers have such love for Jeanne Beker. She really is the true definition of an original icon. I feel like tonight is an example of, “It’s time to get your flowers.”

VHAY: Yeah, completely. Couldn’t agree more.

SHERMAN: To have a standing ovation in the middle of a gallery opening and that kind of stage. 

VHAY: Yeah. Well, let’s touch upon Warhol very quickly. What does he mean to you?

SHERMAN: Oh, Warhol is probably my first conscious obsession. My mom actually told me that we got in trouble from the Aurelia Public Library because I tore out an Andy Warhol picture from an art book that we borrowed.

 

VHAY: No way. Do you remember this?

SHERMAN: Yeah. It was a Marilyn. I was so obsessed and I started to go down the rabbit hole of Warholism. My photography is totally inspired by Warhol: the light, the white background, the energy, everything.

VHAY: And just making people feel special.

SHERMAN: Yeah, everyone’s a star.

VHAY: Everyone’s a star.

SHERMAN: It’s a star system and everyone’s a superstar. I love that he made up these ideas that became mainstream. And I love that his photo series were celebrities, they were trans people, they were queer people, they were minorities. He really did show the diversity of this community. The breadth of his work is really what inspired me to make sure that I’m capturing the full breadth of our community.

VHAY: And you are. You really are surrounded by such amazing people. Those are the kinds of people you attract. 

SHERMAN: Thank you. It was pretty insane that on a Wednesday night, we got some of these divas out at 6:30 for a gallery opening. It was a super proud moment.

VHAY: I don’t know if I’ve asked you this, but what’s your favorite decade of Interview? Maybe we can talk about covers specifically. 

SHERMAN: To me, the decade that Warhol specifically touched was so phenomenal. I think we’re still trying to find ways to replicate that today. He was just so irreverent to how the star system was and he really made it his own. Also, the way that he would photograph famous people from Madonna to [Jack] Nicholson to Divine, Pee-wee Herman—we are emulating that today. We are trying to show these people with light, humor, and joy. 

VHAY: Yeah. Anything Warhol touched has magic. Which you have too, by the way. 

SHERMAN: Thank you.

VHAY: When I’ve stayed at your place and I’m just immersed in your world, it is magical.

SHERMAN: I really believe in magic. I believe that if you do everything with an open mind and an open heart, magic will happen. But you have to create a space for people to feel safe and be open, and feel that they can express themselves fully and have no judgment. That’s why the magic happens.

VHAY: I think Paul Rudd, Anne Carson—

SHERMAN: David Cronenberg.

VHAY: David Cronenberg, all these people I’m seeing on the walls, they’re all getting the magic.

SHERMAN: And you know what? I remember actually putting the fly glasses on David Cronenberg and he said, “I think this is too on the nose,” and I said to him, “I think it’s just perfectly on the nose.”

VHAY: Perfect. Let’s end it there. Thank you, Christopher.

SHERMAN: Thank you. I love you.

VHAY: Love you too.