A little Eden off of Long Island
Although I have been to New York, the city, and surrounding towns and city in the state, I really don't think I'd heard of Fire Island until starting FH. So many photographers head to the island to shoot models on the long sandy beaches, in and around the pools of some of the island's incredible homes. The shoots, and the model and photographer's comments had me searching for more about the island, it's beaches, Cherry Grove and the Pines.
I especially loved reading about the island's history, especially during the seventies. The island's woods hold thousands of stories, of thousands of men, some living, many long gone. The Meat Rack drew the lusty and the lonely, but mostly, those woods drew men longing for connection in a safe space. It's said that all men are equal on Fire Island as when wearing just a speedo, there really is no difference between the corporate executive, the salespeople and servers, or the starving artist.
I loved Richard Rothstein's shots of Sergey on the previous page, but I think I felt a deeper connection to this series of images. I could almost hear the Atlantic hitting the shore, smell the salty air, and imagine the feel of the wood on Sergey's skin. The round wooden deck along the seawall reminded me a bit of Ken Haak's work who Incorporated so much wood (Woody) into his photographs of the ale form.
One of the things on my bucket list is to visit the iconic location. I have a urge to see certain places before the remnants of the past are completely gone. Although everything changes, there are certain places that hold more firmly on to their past than others, especially places with deep connections to both pleasure and pain.
'It was a magical time, There were dance parties at night, tea parties during the day, a house called “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,” after the seventies TV show, “where you could get things they don’t sell in the drugstore,” and always the beach: sun, sand, and lots of skin. Like the Pines, its famous neighbor to the east, Cherry Grove was a haven for gay life and leisure. Fire Island in the seventies holds a special place in the gay-male mythos, but the crowd was mixed, women and men, old as well as the young, to the queens posing in drag and the nudists lounging in the buff.'
One of the hardest (yet enjoyable) tasks of putting together a piece for FH, especially with Richard's work with Sergey, is narrowing down images. Richard sent on close to 200 images of Sergey from this shoot, each different, each unique, each with Sergey hitting a slightly different angle or curve with his beautiful body.
Even though some of the images were similar, just the slight difference in how Sergey pointed his toe, or bent his leg, had me going back on forth on which shot was my favorite. I narrowed Richard's 200 down to 50, then to 30, then excruciatingly took out favorites, one by one, until I had it down to the 15 the best showcase Richard's work with Sergey, and best tell the story.
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