There’s a bit of a renaissance of local queer partygoer photography going on, perhaps mirroring the upswing of openings and reopenings of queer bars in the Bay Area. Whether it’s the gorgeous high art photography of Luke Kraman or the kicky backroom snaps of Booty Call, get in poser, we’re telling our (night)life stories in a static visual format again. Longtime practitioners like 48 Hills contributor Gooch and the recently reactivated Shot in the City, of course, have been saying this is the way for years. But I’ve missed that special Facebook indie sleaze-era feeling of cameras at every turn of the bathroom stall, wielded by high-flying lens queens.
Putting his own very personal spin on the genre is Devon Devine, one of the founders of the seminal Hard French party and a leader in local afterhours shenanigans. “Another Day in Paradise” (Sat/7, 4:20pm-7pm, at ATA’s Right Window Gallery, 992 Valencia, SF)—direct from his bathroom wallpaper to the gallery walls—is Devine’s story told through 420 Polaroids taken over the span of 20 years, from his adorable youth through the wild times had in his apartment by the city’s creme de la underground: DJs, drag queens, dancers, promoters, and simply stellar beings who make up our SF queer party family.
In advance of the show, I asked Devine, also a terrific writer, to give me a wee lowdown on how this two decade project, and its long-awaited show, came about.
“I’ve been taking polaroids of my family for over 20 years, documenting moments in my life so I could remember them for myself and my homies, starting when I moved from the Midwest to Olympia, WA in 2003. It also felt natural for me to photograph my friends because my family of origin (my Indian Dad and Costa Rican Mom) had been doing taking pictures of us my whole life. The only difference is that I didn’t want my photos to sit in a box in a closet. So at my old flat on 3060 22nd Street I wallpapered the bathroom with them—and everyone who came through town, hung out, or partied in our house got to see a bunch of pics of queers having fun and being gay in a way where it would spark a cute story about a friend or a friend of a friend that made me feel connected to community.
“Then the pandemic happened, and the Polaroid bathroom became my personal gallery, the way I stayed connected remotely to my family. [Stud bar co-owner] Jerry Lee gifted me a Polaroid camera for my birthday (or Xmas?) and that’s when I started taking photos more intentionally, knowing I wanted to document my family—not just for myself but for others to see. Now more than ever its important for me to document our fam’s little slice of queerness… if for nothing else than when the only thing that’s left are these artifacts, the aliens know we had a good time!
“Then, Vero Majano, my homie and artist mentor who is part of the Right Window Collective that curates the ATA gallery space asked me a year and a half ago if I’d be interested in a December 2024 residency doing an art show in the window and I was like, hell yeah! At the time (2023?!) I didn’t know what I wanted to do but that’s the gay dream—a window display! on Valencia Street! in December!
“I’m using one wall to showcase my family of origin’s photos, and I am creating a window display that kinda feels like a 46-year-old brown queer chub punk’s studio apartment to help contextualize why I am the way I am, ha ha.”
DEVON DEVINE: ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE Sat/7, 4:20pm-7pm, at ATA’s Right Window Gallery, 992 Valencia, SF.
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