Leonard Fink (1930–1992) was an American photographer who documented his own

LGBT culture in New York City New York City has been described as the gay village, gay capital of the world and the central node of the LGBTQ+ political sociology, sociopolitical ecosystem, and is home to one of the world's largest and most prominent LGBTQ+ populations. Br ...

from 1967 to 1992. He photographed the annual Pride Marches beginning with the first in 1970; the West Village's

gay bar A gay bar is a Bar (establishment), drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ+) clientele; the term ''gay'' is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBTQ+ communi ...

culture; and in particular the abandoned West Side piers where men cruised and had sexual encounters. He neither published nor exhibited his work in his lifetime, but posthumously exhibitions have been held in the Schwules Museum in Berlin and at the

Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art (LLMA), formerly the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, is a visual art museum in SoHo, Lower Manhattan, New York City. It mainly collects, preserves and exhibits visual arts created by LGBTQ artists or ...

in New York City. A book, ''Leonard Fink: Coming Out'', was published on the occasion of the latter exhibition. His work is held in the archive of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center in New York City.

Early life and education

Fink was born in New York City in 1930 and grew up on the West Side of Manhattan. He was raised an

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but as an adult he was non-observant. His father and older brother were physicians. Fink gained an undergraduate degree from

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

, then served in the army in the early 1950s. Later he gained a law degree from

New York Law School New York Law School (NYLS) is a private, American law school in the Tribeca neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City. The third oldest law school in New York City, its history predates its official founding in 1891 by Theodore William Dwight, T ...

Photography

Fink was self-taught in photography, using a 35 mm camera and a home-made

darkroom A darkroom is used to process photographic film, make Photographic printing, prints and carry out other associated tasks. It is a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of light-sensitive photographic materials, including ...

in his small apartment on West 92nd street. His first photographs date from 1954, of friends, holidays in Europe, and scenes in New York City. "His photographs of gay life begin with groups of gay men photographed in Greenwich Village in 1967" and he continued to focus on his own

throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He photographed many of the annual Pride Marches beginning with the first in 1970—the Christopher Street Liberation Day march; the

West Village The West Village is a neighborhood in the western section of the larger Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. The West Village is bounded by the Hudson River to the west and 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to ...

's gay bar culture, especially on West Street; and in particular the abandoned West Side

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

piers, such as Christopher Street Pier. The rundown piers served as a space for gay men to interact and Fink photographed the cruising and sexual encounters, including his own. He made both candid photographs as well as those where his subjects knew they were being photographed. Elsewhere too, he often made self-portraits. Fink neither published nor exhibited his photographs in his lifetime, sharing them only with close friends. At the time of his death he had over 5,000 prints and around 25,000 negatives.

Personal life

Little is known about him. Most of his working life was spent as a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

for the

New York City Transit Authority The New York City Transit Authority (also known as NYCTA, the TA, or simply Transit, and branded as MTA New York City Transit) is a New York state public-benefit corporations, public-benefit corporation in the U.S. state of New York (state), New ...

, where he investigated and defended the city against accident claims. "He lived frugally, spending much of his income on photographic supplies." Fink was "well known in the gay scene of the West Village of the early 1980s" He "was a colorful and ubiquitous character in the Village and at Pride parades, usually appearing on rollerskates in short cut-offs, and a tight t-shirt with cameras always around his neck. He sometimes arrived on a bicycle or a motorcycle." He died of complications relating to

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

Legacy

His complete photographic archive, consisting of work from 1954 to 1992, is held in the archive of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center in New York City.

Publications

* ''Leonard Fink: Coming Out: Photographs of gay liberation and the New York waterfront''. Biel/Bienne, Switzerland: Clandestin, 2014. Edited by Judith Luks and Thomas Schoenberger. . With a preface by Rich Wandel and an essay by Jonathan Weinberg ("Leonard Fink: making a scene") and by Schoenberger ("The sexualization of place—the piers between ruin and reoccupation"). Text in English and German. Published on the occasion of an exhibition at the Schwules Museum, Berlin.

Exhibitions

* ''Leonard Fink Coming Out'', Schwules Museum, Berlin, 2014/15 * ''Out for the Camera: the Self-Portraits of Leonard Fink'',

, New York City, 2018. Work by Fink juxtaposed with work by Gail Thacker, Tee A. Corinne, Del LaGrace Volcano, Shari Diamond, Stanley Stellar and Frank Hallam. Included hundreds of images "from self-portraits in mirrors to gay bar culture" and Pride marches.

References

External links

Fink biography and photographs
at

Google Arts & Culture Google Arts & Culture (formerly Google Art Project) is an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world, operated by Google. It utilizes high-re ...

The artists who had sex and made art in New York City's derelict piers
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Dazed ''Dazed'' (''Dazed & Confused'' until February 2014) is a quarterly British lifestyle magazine founded in 1991. It covers music, fashion, film, art, and literature. ''Dazed'' is published by Dazed Media, an independent media group known for produ ...

In the 1970s, Gay Sex Was Rampant on NYC Piers and in Trucks! Here's the Story!
at

Hornet Hornets (insects in the genus ''Vespa'') are the largest of the Eusociality, eusocial wasps, and are similar in appearance to yellowjackets, their close relatives. Some species can reach up to in length. They are distinguished from other Vespi ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fink, Leonard LGBTQ historiography in New York City AIDS-related deaths in New York (state) People with HIV/AIDS 20th-century American photographers Photographers from New York City American LGBTQ photographers American gay artists New York Law School alumni Louisiana State University alumni 20th-century American Jews 1992 deaths 1930 births 20th-century American LGBTQ people LGBTQ people from New York (state)