TOM BIANCHI: Memories of Fire Island

Tom Bianchi

Limited Edition Archival Prints from SX-70 Polaroids

On View
June 27 - August 15, 2009
PHD Gallery, Cherokee Street
www.phdstl.com

Before gay marriage, before "don't ask-don't tell," before AIDS, and even before Stonewall... there was Fire Island. Part Garden of Eden, part Sodom and Gomorah, this tiny little barrier to Long Island, just south of the Hamptons, was as much a state of mind as it was a destination. Synonymous with freedom to gays around the word, Fire Island was the ultimate mecca where gays and lesbians who often lived their lives in secret, were free to be who they were, among their own, living and playing without judgment or scorn.

Internationally renowned photographer, Tom Bianchi, captured that era on film. Using a Polaroid SX-70, Tom Bianchi, with nine books to his credit, shot more than 6,000 images of his summers in the Pines. The images, captured by a camera that produced results in a few seconds, long before the days of digital exposures, have no special lighting, no darkroom effects and no editing.

The sincerity and integrity of the images are faithfully reproduced as limited edition archival prints each signed and numbered by the artist. Over 24 images from Memories of Fire Island will be on view at PHDGallery from June 27 through August 15, 2009.