Basque-American photojournalist koitz showed 33 photographs taken in Fire Island’s LGBTQ+ communities over nearly two decades. The exhibition took place in Cherry Grove, Fire Island, NY, considered the first gay community in the United States. The Walking Tour was organized by the Cherry Grove Archives Collection and was curated by Parker Sargent.
The work was accompanied by audio clips from Cherry Grove residents and icons, sharing stories about various events and traditions celebrated in the queer community as well as from koitz telling stories about his subjects and his photographic process in the island.
Since the 1930s, Cherry Grove has been a haven for LGBTQ+ people at a time when gay people were discriminated against and could even carry legal consequences. This community, along with neighboring Fire Island Pines, have been the two locales in which the photographer has aimed his lens for the past 20 years. There he has photographed all kinds of parties, artists like Lady Gaga, Bridget Everett and Liza Minnelli, drag queens, go-go boys, as well as intimate and private moments, including many homoerotic nudes in emblematic places. A large selection of his photographs are part of the exhibition that opened on June 6 on the island, which is located two hours from New York City and where members of the queer community has been spending the summer season for many decades.
The exhibition included recent photos, but also some of the images from the book that koitz published in the spring of 2020, “koitz Gay Fire Island”. The book was selected by curator Elizabeth Avedon as one of the best photography books of 2020.
The exhibition was organized by the non-profit Cherry Grove Archives Collection (CGAC) dedicated to promoting global recognition of the rich and creative history of the first known refuge for LGBTQ+ people and their allies in the United States. The CGAC is dedicated to the preservation of the social, political and cultural history of Cherry Grove, Fire Island, New York.
koitz has committed to donate his Fire Island photographic archives to CGAC, whose mission is to preserve and disseminate the history of this community by protecting and storing all types of historical documents, including photographs and films.
