Photographer Gerard H. Gaskin creates art, but also shines a light on people who need to be seen.
In the exhibit “Legendary: Inside the House Ballroom Scene,” his pictures tell the stories of those who participate in “the culture of house balls of the African-American and Latino gay, transgender, and queer community,” organizers say. “The work celebrates the exuberant world of artistry and self-fashioning where a frequently marginalized community can be their most vibrant and spectacular selves.”
The photos were taken at events in Philadelphia, Richmond,Va., Washington, D.C., and New York City. Gaskin has been an observer, attending balls for two decades. He was granted access by house ballroom members, who invited him into their intimate world.
In addition to the 45 photographs displayed, people will be able to learn about the experiences of house ballroom participants through interviews. The museum also will screen the film “The New Black,” a documentary that examines gay rights in light of the recent marriage equality movement and the fight for civil rights.
Gaskin, whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Black Enterprise, Teen People, Caribbean Beat, and other magazines, began photographing the ballroom scene “because it was in front of me,” he said. Gaskin, who was born in The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, but grew up in Queens, N.Y., loved to hang out in the 42nd Street/Times Square area of New York City in the early 1990s. That’s where he first discovered a place call Show World, where he found something that intrigued him.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes – born men looking like women,” he said by email. After that, a friend told him about the house balls, so he went “and then I was hooked.”
He was impressed by the people he met there.
“Here is a scene that was created by this community of queer black and Latino working class people believing that there was and is a need for a safe space where they can come together to work out their idea of their sexuality and gender identity,” he said.
They became a subject he wanted to capture with his camera. Gaskin, whose work is included in national and international shows and in the collections of the Museum of the City of New York and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, loves photography and taking photos of interesting people.
“I love making images for people to look at and I believe that images are here to teach people about the world,” he said. “But what’s more important is that they record history and we as a society learn so much from great photographs.”
As the museum’s director of curatorial services, Leslie Guy loves his work.
“The imagery is compelling and the subject is timely,” she said. “It’s certainly important in the African American community and society at large.”
And as a viewer, Guy likes that “he is able to invite you into his work,” she said. “He has a strong connection to the community, but it’s not exploitive, not sensationalized.”
New things strike her every time she looks at one of his photographs, she said, and his images are powerful and make viewers question preconceived notions.
“You’re meeting the gaze of an individual. You’re viewing them and they are viewing you,” she said. “You’re looking into someone and into yourself.”
Guy believes Gaskin was able to capture intimate moments because he earned the trust of his subjects and he exhibits empathy for people. Gaskin appreciates that the community embraced him and his work.
“Ballroom is a beautiful space that I found and was lucky enough for the community to allow me to photograph them,” Gaskin said. “I am so happy that I have spent the last 20 years making images of this wonderful group of people. Shine, Ballroom, shine.”
