The Big Apple Corps Marching Band struts down Stuyvesant Place near Wall Street in St. George as part of the Staten Island Pride 2009 celebration. (All photos by Kevyn A. Fairchild except as noted. For more photos of Staten Island Pride, go to Kevyn's blog at 2gsmedia.com.)
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STATEN ISLAND PRIDE 2009 kicked off last Saturday, June 6--the same day as ART BY THE FERRY (ABF)--and in the same place: St. George. ABF continues this coming Saturday and Sunday, June 13 and 14 (more information at artbytheferry.org).
The
following text and photos appeared originally on Kevyn A. Fairchild's
blog at 2gsmedia.com. Many thanks to Kevyn for sharing his observations
and photos with WIT readers.
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NOTES OF A RELATIVE NEWCOMER
Guest Blogger: Kevyn A. Fairchild
Grand marshal Chris Bauer waves to the crowd with his left hand . . .
STATEN ISLAND PRIDE 2009
On June 6th, 2009 pride season was kicked off in my nabe with the
Staten Island pride parade and festival. The photos in this gallery
were taken of the parade and the festivities at the George M. Cromwell
Center.
. . . while Rep. Mike McMahon waves with his right . . .
This was my first time at Staten Island pride, though I have been to
the larger New York pride that takes place in Manhattan.
I was
incredibly impressed by the diversity and the sense of not only GLBTQ
but personal and community pride at the event.
A rainbow appears outside Cromwell Center.
It is also amazing that even in what is easily the most suburban, conservative and hostile (though not as hostile as it could be) borough, people still lined the streets in the community to watch the parade go by.
I am proud of my fellow GLBTQ Staten Islanders who marched together in celebration of our lives.
ABOUT KEVYN A. FAIRCHILD
[Text from the autobio on Kevyn's blog; photo by Iestyn Fairchild.]
Born in Colorado and raised in Alaska, I have had a multifaceted way of seeing the world from a very young age. Bi-cultural from birth, I have always been simultaneously inside and outside of the world in which I live. The status as a consummate outsider for some would be a burden, but I have turned it into a way of redefining vision and defying definition.
In 2006, I finished my BA in Film Studies from the University of Colorado at Denver and am currently pursuing my Masters of Media Studies at The New School University in New York. A lens based artist by self definition, I am interested in the aesthetics of applied film theory.
I am currently working a number of projects ranging from personal documentary to fictional narrative as well as a contributing writer to the New York Blade.