Indian photographer shows who was on the streets after Stonewall

LGBT+ Pride Month is June to mark the Stonewall Inn episode, on Christopher Street, in New York (USA). Anyone who is curious to know what the era of liberation that followed was like can delve into the talented work of photographer Sunil Gupta (1953). He gathered the best images in the book “Christopher Street 1976” (Stanley/Barker), for sale clicking here.

It is literally a portrait of the joy, relief and pride of a community that, after being greatly oppressed, began to respond, such as the demonstrations on the outskirts of the city following homophobic attacks at the time. There are 100 pages of people who, for the first time, without fear, dress, act and smile being who they chose to be.

Born in New Delhi (India), Sunil moved to Canada at the age of 15 with his parents, but decided to move to the Big Apple, also becoming an editor and curator. The photos on the historic street for the LGBT movement appeared during breaks from his studies, with a theme that spoke volumes about the photographer’s own life.

“I was in New York in school and I was just doing street photography. It grew out of my gay activism in my undergraduate years and became something of a serious hobby. It became a natural thing to click”, he said in an interview in 2019.

It is worth getting to know Sunil Gupta’s work better and checking out series full of pride and activism such as the photos from “Exile”, which reveal the daily lives of gays in India, where homosexuality was until 2018 a crime – as decreed by Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code , established in 1861 during the British government.

By Ezatamentchy