Woman Holding a Protest Sign, Gay Liberation Parade, New York City

Inscriptions

Signed, on reverse, in graphite, lower right: Leonard Freed; numbered, on reverse, in graphite, upper left: LFGAY-12.4; inscribed, on reverse, in graphite, upper left: WOMEN’S; inscribed, on reverse, in blue ink, upper left: Gay [stroke through in graphite] Liberation week / in New York.; dated, on reverse, in graphite, upper center: 9-26-1970; inscribed, on reverse, in graphite, lower left: 1970 NEW YORK CITY – USA; numbered, on reverse, in graphite, lower center: 70-26-28-13; inscribed, on reverse, in graphite, upper right facing left: 4500; stamped, on reverse, in green ink, lower left facing left: Copyright / abc / press / Amsterdam / [illeg.]burgwal 266 / Post Box 3694 / Telef. 249413 / Telegr. Abcpress; stamped, on reverse, in blue ink, center: c [encircled] Leonard Freed-Magnum; stamped, on reverse, in black ink, lower center: VINTAGE PRINT; stamped, on reverse, in black ink, lower right: c [encircled] Leonard Freed-Magnum;

Label

In these three images the subjects are bedecked in frilly, oversized, and/or dramatic feminine clothing. From the woman in the bonnet, scarf, and cleavage-baring dress at a Gay Liberation march, to the drag performer in a ringlet wig and Little Bo-Peep dress performing at a nightclub, the heteronormative quality of these clothes is subverted by the outfits’ excess and the queer-context in which they are worn. In the middle photo a young man playfully covers his body with an oversized sunhat, giving the impression that he is otherwise nude. We do not know who took this photograph or where, but "‘Queer’ Johnny at the Camp" is written on the back of the image. While we do not know what type of camp this is, we can see this young man’s joy and exuberance.

From the 2022 exhibition Femme is Fierce: Femme Queer Gender Performance in Photography, curated by Alisa Swindell, Associate Curator of Photography

Course History

WGST 65, Queer Visual Culture, Gabriele Dietze, Winter 2014

SART 30.01/SART 75.01, Photography II/III, Eva O'Leary, Fall 2022

WGSS 10.01, Sex, Gender, and Society, Francine A'Ness, Fall 2022

Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies 2.01, Introduction to Queer Studies, Eng-Beng Lim, Winter 2023

Exhibition History

Femme is Fierce: Femme Queer Gender Performance in Photography, Class of 1967 gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, October 1-December 17, 2022.

Provenance

Kate and Bart Osman, Greenwich, Connecticut; given to present collection, 2013.

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Subjects