This Summer, 'Fire Island' Is Coming to You

I can't remember the last time I was on Fire Island -- and can count the number of times I've been there on one hand. This serves as an excellent reminder why! 

Sketchy Characters

See what artist A.E. Kieren came up with at Fire Island's recent Invasion of the Pines HERE.

You've come a long way, baby!

The History of the Invasion of the Pines

I've never been to this seminal Fourth of July event on the gayest island in the world, but friends who have swear it's unforgettable. Now a new book delves into its history.

From a release:

"Mascara, Mirth & Mayhem" is a collection of photographs taken by renowned photographer Susan Kravitz over the past 30 years at the annual LGBTQ event known as the Invasion of the Pines. The Invasion of the Pines occurs every July 4th and involves participants from the Fire Island communities of Cherry Grove and Fire Island Pines. It began in 1976, when a member of the Cherry Grove community had been refused service in a Pines' restaurant because he had been dressed in drag. In protest, a small group of Cherry Grove residents cross-dressed and took a water taxi to the Pines on Independence Day of that year, to stand up against this "height of insult" by "invading" their neighboring community.  

Four decades later, the Invasion has evolved into a uniquely raucous event that joyfully celebrates human rights and freedom of expression by thousands of people, straight and gay. Kravitz’s photographs capture the rebelliousness, the high camp, and the joy of the Invasion. They are provocative, introspective, sad and funny, and tinged with sexual innuendo. Yet they also reflect another journey, one that gives insight into the LGBTQ movement itself. From the fearful, AIDS-ridden years of the 1980s and 1990s, to the joyous years of this decade when LGBTQ people are out and proud (and, if they choose, legally married), these Invasion photographs celebrate a day to be free, to be whoever you want to be, and to be gay. "My photographs are as much about the times I which they were taken as they are about the people who populate them. Ultimately, they are about human rights and freedom of expression seen through the lens of the Invasion." said Kravitz of her eighty-eight color and black and white photographs.

Order HERE.

Mr. Lister Does Fire Island

My shutterbug friend Greg Endries shot British slalom canoer turned LGBT advocate Matt Lister on Fire Island this summer and the results will leaving you pining for more. View HERE.

Gypsies, Tramps and Votes

So this happened last night on Fire Island. 

My friends are so glamorous! 

Invasion of the Purse Snatchers

The Daily Front Row sent fashion illustrator A.E. Kieren to Fire Island’s Invasion of the Pines and the results would make Bill Cunningham proud! Read HERE.

Party Like It's 1999

Travel back 17 years in time to Fire Island HERE.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

   The weather's going to be crappy this weekend all along the Eastern Seaboard, but I hope you have a nice holiday nonetheless, and spend a little time remembering those who lost their lives for our country. If you had dreamed of having some fun in the sun might I offer these vintage photos from Fire Island, which will surely get your temperature rising! More HERE.

(An exclusive preview of photographer Tom Bianchi’s new art book Fire Island Pines: Polaroids 1975–1983.)