Join powerHouse Books at Housing Works in New York on Feb 13th for a reading and conversation celebrating Nicholas Blair’s book Castro to Christopher – Gay Streets of America 1979–1986. Photographer Nicholas Blair will discuss his book with Jim Farber and moderator Jack Gray.
Between 1979 and 1986—after Stonewall and before the darkest days of the AIDS epidemic—there was a period of exuberant and burgeoning gay life in places even then known as “gay paradises.” There were others, but the best known were San Francisco’s Castro District, New York’s Christopher Street and Fire Island, and Provincetown, Massachusetts.
The joy—and pathos—of these tragically lost worlds is beautifully and vibrantly documented in this collection of compelling portraits and street scenes photographed by Nicholas Blair. As a teenager lured to San Francisco from New York—via hitchhiking to Buenos Aires—Blair lived in a hippie-style arts commune just across town from the Castro. With a Leica rangefinder camera loaned to him by a childhood friend, Blair began honing his craft as a photographer amidst the explosion of LGBTQ life that was rapidly eclipsing the hippies as the most visible (and photographable) counter-culture movement of the day.
Castro to Christopher
Gay Streets of America 1979–1986
Photographs by Nicholas Blair
Introduction by Jim Farber
With Moderator Jack Gray
Where: Housing Works, 126 Crosby St, NYC
When: Tuesday, February 13th at 6pm
RSVP
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/book-talk-castro-to-christopher-tickets-800114803917?aff=erelexpmlt
