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Castro to Christopher:
Gay Streets of America,
1979—1986
Photographs by Nicholas Blair
Introduction by Jim Farber
Photo Count 126, Page Count 146, 10.4" x 8.8"
Light, People and Photography
In 1973, I dropped out of high school in New York City, and after hitchhiking through South America for fifteen months, landed in San Francisco. There, I joined my brother Doniphan, and with a few friends created Ancient Currents Gallery and a small arts commune called The Modern Lovers. We hosted art exhibitions, performance art and musical events. We were fascinated by world culture and members would travel for extended periods of time, while wayfaring artists would often stay with us. Eventually, two babies were home-birthed there.
Shortly after my arrival, my brother introduced me to the photographer Larry Bair, who after taking me under his wing, introduced me to the esteemed photographer and teacher, Henry “Hank” Wessel. Both of us would sit in on Hank’s classes at the San Francisco Art Institute. I immersed myself in photography and built my own darkroom to concentrate exclusively on black and white. Although I tried color, it was very difficult to process myself, plus, unless the light was soft and forgiving, the images would be contrasty and harsh. Eventually I earned my MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute without an undergraduate degree.
Growing up my father, Vachel Blair, a cinematographer, showed me photography books and we discussed composition and lighting. After studying with Larry and Hank I was perfecting a method of candid photography that entailed using depth of field to pre-focus the lens before quickly aiming the camera and releasing the shutter. I was trying to suspending premeditated thinking and see things with full awareness. The rewards were photographs connecting the interplay of light, people, and their surroundings. I was fascinated by how the camera transforms the three-dimensional world into a two-dimensional image. Although a photograph meticulously describes what it sees it remains an illusion and becomes, simultaneously, both a truth and a lie.
Starting in 1977 I took a number of lengthy trips wandering with my camera. A few times through Mexico, then for a year in India and Europe. New York City was also a favorite spot since I was often there visiting. I discovered that travel and photography are overlapping activities: both are about being in the moment and observing your surroundings.
In 1985 I was offered an assignment photographing with a film team covering the famine in Ethiopia. This led to more travel assignments and the beginning of a parallel career in filmmaking. It was then that I moved back to New York City where I reside.
(Image: San Francisco, 1977)