The Fahey/Klein Gallery will present the first exhibition from photographer Tom Bianchi’s newly released publication, Fire Island Pines: Polaroids 1975-1983 (Damiani, 2013). Bianchi’s Polaroid images capture the Pines, a small close-knit gay beach community fifty-seven miles from New York City. Due to its close proximity to the cultural capital New York City, artists, writers, models, photographers, designers, and actors came to the Pines each summer. The area became a safe, exuberant, and celebratory summer enclave for gay men, marking a golden age before the beginning of the AIDS crisis.
Bianchi photographed on Fire Island with a Polaroid SX-70 camera. Many of his friends and subjects were still closeted and wary of having their picture taken, but felt comfortable in front of Bianchi and his Polaroid. Bianchi states, “At first, I shot subjects without identity to ensure anonymity for those who needed it, focusing on atmosphere. As time passed, friends became comfortable with the smiles on their faces being recorded. I quickly saw that I had the makings of a book. People saw what I was doing and came to welcome me, camera in hand.” (Tom Bianchi, Introduction to Fire Island Pines).
The dream-like images of outlandish parties and sculpted bodies show friends and lovers dancing, kissing, holding hands, and playing in the sun, creating a community where for the first time, they were free to love. In the context of the AIDS crisis that ensued, these images become even more nostalgic and devastating to comprehend. Bianchi’s photographs preserve this time as a vital layer of social and cultural history, and act as a record of the life and vitality lost to AIDS.
Untitled 710 , Fire Island Pines, 1975-1983
Untitled 777 , Fire Island Pines, 1975-1983
Untitled 046 , Fire Island Pines, 1975-1983
Untitled 250 , Fire Island Pines, 1975-1983
Untitled 287, Fire Island Pines, 1975-1983
Untitled 533 , Fire Island Pines, 1975-1983
by Louise Lui
All images © Tom Bianchi, Courtesy of the Fahey/Klein Gallery, Los Angeles
Tom Bianchi Fire Island Pines: Polaroids 1975 – 1983 will run from June 12 through July 19, 2014
Reception for the Artist: Thursday, June 12, 7 – 9 PM