Saturday, June 06, 2009

My December 1998 / HU photo of Rosa Parks featured at Rosa Parks Tribute Site

It gives me great pleasure to see that one my images of Rosa Parks is featured at the Rosa Parks Tribute Site at Myspace..

The photo was taken at Howard University's A. R. Chapel in Washington DC during the 5 December 1998 Youth Rally which celebrated Park's 43 years of fighting for justice.

Click the image to view the tribute site.

Friday, June 05, 2009

Lenore Nolan-Ryan's Summer Cooking Classes Start 15 June

Click photo to read Lenore Nolan-Ryan (LNR) Newsletter dated Friday, 5 June 2009.

June/July 2009 JustCircuit.MAG Now Available Online

The June/July 2009 issue of JustCircuit.MAG is simply magical! Your truly unbiased, personal guide to everything Circuit ... every two months~


Now available in Paris, Brussels, Barcelona,Vancouver, Bogota and in over 175+ US cities!

Click the new cover to read the June / July 2009 issue.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY and receive a free Centaur CD.

The importance of documentary photography

When people inquire as to why I photograph the way that I do, my response is almost always the same.

I regard myself as a documentary photographer.

When, today, that I came across a website that explores the history of gay bath houses, the following caught my attention regarding the New St. Mark’s Baths Preservation Project:

During the fall of 1992 a lesbian photographer named Gail S. Goodman left her home in upstate New York to attend the Manhattan funeral of a longtime friend who had died from AIDS. As she dropped off one of his friends on St. Mark’s Place in the East Village after the service, he turned to her and mentioned that he had recently entered the New St. Mark’s Baths (by this time shut down and boarded up for 7 years) through an upper window in order to investigate the premises. His felonious visit uncovered a host of treasures inside the ghostly facility: signs still hung on the walls, keys to rooms and lockers still filled the bank of lockboxes, AIDS literature was still stacked at the front counter along with St. Mark’s Baths personalized matches, postcards and office stationery. Knowing a rare opportunity when she saw one, Gail wrote down the telephone number of the bank which was offering 6 St. Mark’s Place for sale, then she headed home with plans to somehow enter the baths and take pictures of the facility in order to preserve the gay history of Manhattan’s most popular gay bath house for those who had visited and to those who had never been witness to the gay sexual revolution that followed Stonewall in NYC. The following day Gail was fortunate enough to find out where the baths current owner Bruce Mailman was located. With her camera in hand and a prayer on her tongue, she knocked on a Manhattan door and met with a young blond named Jonathan who worked for Mr. Mailman. He directed her to the office of Mr. Mailman himself. After a few introductory remarks by Gail, she asked Bruce if the New St. Mark’s Baths had been photographed. “No,” he dropped his head and said, “and it was so beautiful.” With that, Gail asked for his permission to photograph the baths. Fortunately, he granted Gail permission to photograph the baths with the understanding that she not photograph anything that had been destroyed or damaged by the renovation work that was going on inside. She agreed to Mailman’s demands and, with Jonathan in tow, she entered the baths with a flashlight and managed to take several snapshots of the darkened facility as it remained 7 years after being shut down by the Health Department of the City of New York due to the AIDS crisis.

With much talk of the development of Washington Nationals Stadium, it was in the fall of 2004 that began to photograph the Near Southeast DC area. I actually made a point to stop in at the various businesses and make contact with several residents with hopes that they would grant me permission to photograph their sites.

I, always felt that 'had I been white' and expressed similar interests ... the reactions that I received from most would have been much different. Even though I was not well received, I still pushed on.

When I read the above regarding The New Saint Mark's Baths Preservation Project I was reminded not only of my efforts in the Near Southeast DC area including the gay clubs at Half and O Streets regarding my documentary project.

The History of Gay Bath Houses reminded me of the important of my collection.

Pushing on ...!

Benefit & Performance by Malcolm X. Drummers & Dancers TONIGHT (Friday, 5 June 2009) at Potter's House

Click image to read Doc Powell, Founder of Malcolm X. Drummers & Dancers e-news dated Thursday, 4 June 2009 regarding TONIGHT's benefit and performance at the Potter's House.

The depicted image by Elvert Barnes was shot at the Malcolm X. Park Drum & Dance Circle on Sunday, 30 July 2006.

5 June 2009 Friday's Photo of the Week

click image
Cabaret Stage . 2nd Floor . 55 M Street, SE, Washington DC
Friday Night, 29 May 2009
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My "Freedom To Love" Pride 2009 Dance Mix

Celebrating not only the 2009 GLBT Pride Season but, also, New Hampshire as the 6th state to grant same sex marriages ... click the cd cover to listen to my FREEDOM TO LOVE podcast which features some of the latest trance and progressive house tracks, a few gay circuit classics before closing with a new age selection by Tangerine Dream.

Just under 80 minutes, feel free to burn it onto a cd or download for your ipod!

FREEDOM!

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Josh Wood Productions: Sandra Bernhard at Town Hall: Without You I'm Nothing - 20th Anniversary Performance!

Click to read Josh Wood Productions Enflyer dated Tuesday, 2 June 2009.

Beth Hughes at DCRealEstate.com Newsletter - 1 June 2009

Click banner to read DC Real Estate Newsletter dated Monday, 1 June 2009 from Realtor Beth Hughes.

A captivating performace by Stripmall Ballads at Artomatic 2009 opening night

Phillips Saylor's ability to take a crowd from stomping their feet to quiet reflection and back again is the result of nearly a decade of non-stop touring and performing across North America.

While compared by some ... to Woody Guthrie, Kurt Cobain and A.P. Carter, Stripmall Ballads has developed a style entirely his own: poetic, dark, energetic, possessed, and reluctantly romantic.

An obvious devote student of US roots musical tradition, Stripmall Ballads fuses virtuosic historical convention with contemporary lyrics. Not afraid of musical experimentation or the power of words, his prolific performances and recordings have earned him a reputation for being somwhere in between "a fire and brimstone preacher and a beat poet."

While the above text are excerpts from Stripmall Ballads two websites ... I could not agree more.

After having captured Phillips Saylor and his band during my 29 May 2009 Artomatic Opening Night visit ... I hope that it is not too far in the future that I witness Stripmall Ballads perform again.

If after viewing my video #1 and video #2 compilations, you're not captivated, as well ... something seriously must be wrong with you!

Celebrating its 10th year, Artomatic 2009 runs from 29 May through 5 July at 55 M Street in SE Washington DC.

Though still under construction here is my 10th Artomatic 2009 / WDC webpage/photoessay.

Monday, June 01, 2009

Milkmachine performance during Artomatic 2009 Opening Night

After witinessing Milkmachine's perform at last year's Artomatic Opening Night I was looking forward to their performance at the Artomatic 29 May 2009 Opening Night event.

Though I arrived in the middle of their act I was not disappointed.

Click the image to view my MILKMACHINE - Artomatic Opening Night - 29 May 2009 video complilation.

Images from the 29 May 2009 performance may be found at the MILKMACHINE album.

MILKMACHINE will be performing TONIGHT, at 9PM, at The Red & The Black Bar at 1212 H Street in NE Washington DC.

For more information visit the MILKMACHINE website.

Opening on Friday, 29 May Artomatic #10 runs through 5 July 2009 at 55 M Street in SE Washington DC.

Though sill under construction, here is my 10th Artomatic 2009 / WDC photoessay/webpage.