The Stonewall Riots (aka the Stonewall Uprising) is a story that has taken on mythic proportions. Who was there? Who wasn’t there? Who started it? What happened when? All these years later, the details are mostly lost to time and collective/selective memory.

The stories have taken on such epic, mythic proportions that we’ve personally heard stories by people claiming to have been there who weren’t even born yet.

As part of our Queer Photo Album series, I have created a group of works called The Quiet Before The Riot featuring The (West) Village People (those who lived in the neighborhood and/or frequented the Stonewall Inn, not the band) in the hours before the uprising began.

The Quiet Before The Riot spans a total of 30 images and includes familiar faces/places of the legendary Summer of ’69:

IT WAS THE DAY OF JUDY GARLAND’S FUNERAL.
IT WAS THE DAY BEFORE THE HES/SHES/THEYS FINALLY FOUGHT BACK.

The Quiet Before The Riot collection envisions what life might have been like in the neighborhood before the historic events unfolded.

Through photorealistic street portraits, Collide Press aims to take the viewer on a journey to the past, allowing them to connect with the feelings and experiences of the LGBTQ individuals who lived during that era.