Castro to Christopher: The lost world of the “gay paradises” in San Francisco and New York is documented in this collection of remarkably intimate portraits and street scenes taken by photography activist and chronicler Nicholas Blair from 1979–1986. The lovely, carefree utopia pre-AIDS gay communities offered a long-maligned culture evoke a halcyon existence of peace and acceptance, with only a hint of the dark cloud of the AIDS epidemic looming, and early protests and demands for humane treatment just beginning to take hold.

Nicholas Blair

In 1974, photographer, cinematographer, and filmmaker Nicholas Blair dropped out of high school and left his native New York City to hitchhike through Latin America. A year later, he settled in San Francisco and helped found The Modern Lovers arts commune and Ancient Currents Gallery, both dedicated to art and cultural exploration. In 1981, he received his MFA in photography from the San Francisco Art Institute under the tutelage of renowned photographer and teacher Henry “Hank” Wessel. As a filmmaker, his work includes the 1997 documentary America’s Culture of Crash, about the rural sport of demolition derby, and 2005’s Our Holocaust Vacation, a journey to Poland with his mother and family, revisiting her Holocaust experiences.Blair has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and the Jerome Foundation, and his photographs are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the International Center for Photography, the Brooklyn Museum, The Houston Museum of Modern Art, and the Bibliothéque Nationale in Paris.

Jim Farber is a writer who has been covering culture since the seventies. For 25 years, he was the chief music critic of the New York Daily News. Currently, he contributes regularly to The New York Times, The Guardian, and many other publications. He is a three-time winner of the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award for music criticism and is an adjunct professor at NYU.Jim Farber was the chief music critic of the New York Daily News for 25 years and has been covering culture since the seventies. He contributes regularly to The New York Times, The Guardian, and many other publications. He is a three-time winner of the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award for music criticism and is an adjunct professor at NYU.

Jack Gray is a collector of photographs and books of photographs. His interest in the medium started in his teens. His collecting focus is centered on pictures found in the wild, not staged in a studio or elsewhere. He is currently engaged in curating an exhibition on Henry Wessel’s book oeuvre from his collection.

Time: 6:00 — 8:00 pm EST

Free!

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