OAKLAND, Calif.—Lavender Lounge Studios has redesigned and re-launched its flagship website, LavenderLounge.com. According to owner Mark Kleim, development began more than a year ago and signals a new direction for the company.
“Following industry trends, I am breaking up my main website into a series of more niche-specific websites,” Kleim said. “LavenderLounge.com will be primarily a showcase for my own original photography. I’ve gotten the most notoriety for shooting candid photos at street fairs, clubs and porn star events, so that will be the focus of this site. The new site will also feature hardcore scenes I’ve shot with models, and with new technology available, I’ll finally have a workable video solution for my members.”
The new LavenderLounge.com was built on a platform of open-source content-management software customized with plug-ins for video streaming, blogging and photo slideshows.
“Members will be able to watch videos full-screen with amazing clarity, but my favorite feature is the photo slide shows,” Kleim said. “When a member clicks on a thumbnail, the picture opens into a lightbox that hovers over the browser, and a slide show begins. Users will have full control to either go from thumbnail to thumbnail or sit back and watch the show. Photos automatically adjust to any screen size, and each picture dissolves elegantly to the next. It’s gorgeous.”
The majority of the content on LavenderLounge.com is exclusive photography and video shot at gay-oriented outdoor festivals, smutty bar and nightclub events, and sexually charged gatherings of gay performers. The candid “paparazzi pics” are sub-divided into three categories:
Streetfair Skin: San Francisco hosts several queer outdoor festivals like Folsom Street Fair, Up Your Alley (aka Dore Alley Street Fair), Castro Street Fair, Gay Pride Parade, Pink Saturday and Hairrison Street Fair, and Kliem documented them for several years. He also has photographed his travels to Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Russian River, Las Vegas, Florida and other queer destinations.
Barhopping Bare: Leather bars have some sort of beauty contest almost every night, and mixing alcohol with horny men ensures the clothes come off quickly. Lavender Lounge shoots photos of bar events featuring hairy chests, big-dick daddies, tattooed bad boys, real men with facial hair and muscle bears.
Porn Star Parties: Kliem photographs a number of promotional events at which gay performers get loose and slutty. The GAYVN Awards, Grabby Awards, Cybersocket Awards, Bad Boys Pool Parties, fundraisers, after parties, trade shows or anywhere porn stars gather to titillate and entertain, Kleim has toted his lens.
To satisfy customers looking for more explicit, hardcore porn, Lavender Lounge also offers photo sets and videos of anal sex and solo studs. Besides Kleim’s original photography, Lavender Lounge also presents sample picture galleries and movies from popular gay porn producers. VIP members of Lavender Lounge receive access to a premier selection of previews from gay porn studios.
Long-time LavenderLounge.com members will be relieved to know the galleries of vintage gay porn remain available in the members area. Over the next few months, Lavender Lounge Studios plans to launch a new website containing only vintage gay porn. Paid members will be granted access to both sites, Kleim said.
“I can’t wait to launch my new vintage site,” he averred. “I will finally be able to properly share my vast collection of rare and underground gay porn from the 1970s, including a couple hundred hours of hardcore movies I am transferring from 8mm [film]. These movies were rarely seen when they were new, and a whole new generation of viewers have never seen them.”
The re-launch of LavenderLounge.com was facilitated by William “Jake” Jacobs of Webs Gold, which specializes in support and services for sites running the Joomla open-source platform.
To see the changes at Lavender Lounge, visit LavenderLounge.com.
