Gay Life in New York, Between Oppression and Freedom – New York Times (blog)

Luis Carle sees himself, and his work, as a bridge between the gay and straight communities, between the younger and older generations of the L.G.B.T. community, and between past and the present. The Puerto Rican photographer was 17 when came out in San Juan in 1980, and in subsequent years witnessed the AIDS crisis, the culture wars, and the march toward broader L.G.B.T. rights. All along, he made pictures of his community and the seismic waves that were reshaping it.

My generation was the one between oppression and freedom, he said. I feel proud of seeing both sides. I was right there in that period of time and my work documented some of the magic that went on in those days. A lot of that is not going to happen anymore.

Mr. Carle grew up on a dead-end street in San Juan. His father worked in insurance, and often used a Polaroid camera in his work. He made sure to teach his son how to use the camera, so from an early age Mr. Carle understood photographys role as record.

Soon after coming out, he bounced between studying pre-med in San Juan and business in Orlando, Fla., before winding up at Parsons School of Design, where he quickly was immersed in photography and documenting the gay community of which he was part. There was art everywhere, he said of that time. To help pay for school, he started assisting fashion and commercial photographers, and then began making his own work. He captured the infamous black parties, the marches and rallies, and throughout, the close-knit ties of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

I was going back and forth between Puerto Rico and New York, he recalled. And I kept recording all my gay friends. As his career took off and he made a living from his photography, he and his friends started traveling, and he kept documenting along the way: Montreals gay scene, marches on Washington, and the goings on in Puerto Rico and New York City. At the same time, he was making elegant and provocative fashion and fine art images.

His documentary work is replete with the heady energy and intimacy forged by the dual forces that shaped the L.G.B.T. community of the time: pride and righteous self-determination colliding with a broader society that wasnt ready to accept them. In one image (Slide 8), Christina Hayworth, a transgender Puerto Rican woman and L.G.B.T. rights pioneer, stares stonily into the camera. To her left is the transgender icon Sylvia Rivera, the activist and veteran of the Stonewall riot, who looks more amused. At far right is Julia Murray, Ms. Riveras partner and also a transgender woman, whose gaze is the most stoic of all. All three have their hands knit together and on the ground at their feet is a sign demanding Respect TRANS. The National Portrait Gallery acquired the image in 2015, and Mr. Carle said it was the first portrait of a transgender American to be added to its collection.

It neatly captures Mr. Carles devotion to recording moments that he knew needed to be remembered, all while celebrating the powerful families that L.G.B.T. people made for themselves. In the 70s and 80s, gay people were a family, he said. There was a community before and they would take care of each other. Some of the titans of that time, including many friends and mentors of Mr. Carles, died of AIDS. Others simply passed before their time. As one of the survivors, he feels it is crucial that he communicate the memories and lessons.

I have all this information that I needed to share, because I was present in all these places, he said. If we dont say it, nobody knows.

Follow @nytimesphoto on Twitter. Luis Carle and Jake Naughton is on Instagram. You can also find Lens on Facebook and Instagram.

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Gay Life in New York, Between Oppression and Freedom - New York Times (blog)