This project represents my work over the course of 5 years photographing performers in the East Village’s vibrant performance scene of the mid & late ’90’s in New York City.

The project was shot with black & white and color 35mm film. I processed the black & white negatives in my E.5th St. apartment at the time, and I developed all of the prints (silver gelatin and chromogenic) in analog darkrooms. In addition to the hundreds of prints I made, there are thousands of negatives developed.

When I moved to New York in early 1995, the first thing I did was go to the address I had for WOW cafe. (A little bit of a misnomer, WOW was and is, a black box theater space.) There wasn't a show that I knew of yet – there was no internet or websites. WOW didn't have a phone. I remember turning the corner to east 4th St; walking up the 4 flights of stairs. The theater door was locked, but in the hallway were all the upcoming show postcards and flyers.

The second show I went to, I began photographing. In addition to the performances, I also photographed publicity portraits of the performers, that were used to promote their shows. I did sometimes photograph at some other downtown venues but WOW was my community and it remained my creative home during this time. WOW is an anti-hierarchical collective and I was also an active member during those years which meant: the weekly meetings, the summer planning retreat; working on shows – operating the sound board, light board; hanging lights, selling tickets at the door; handing out programs, performing in other artists’ shows, creating and performing my own pieces for the weekly cabarets; supporting each other and cleaning up after shows – “leaving it better than you found it”.

A lot has evolved in the LGBTQ community since this time. So not only does this body of work represent a particular moment in time for the arts in New York, but also a particular historical moment for the queer community. This project constitutes a significant archive that represents the expression of a community, and an important contribution to the history of photography.

Work from this project earned a photography grant from Light Work, and is included as part of their permanent collection.