Photography: Thomas Roma

Photographer Thomas Roma takes intimate portraits of gay and bisexual men in Prospect Park, New York. The Vale of Cashmere is a secluded area where black and Latino men cruise for partners* and this project, which Roma created in memory of a close friend who died of Aids, allows viewers access to a secret world. In the Vale of Cashmere will be published by Powerhouse Books on 29 October, with an accompanying exhibition at the Steven Kasher Gallery which opens on the same day and runs to 19 December.

Guardian online gallery.

* Cock.