![Daniel Nicoletta at Castro Camera](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Daniel_Nicoletta_at_Castro_Camera.jpg)
Daniel Nicoletta (born December 23, 1954) is an Italian-American photographer,
photojournalist
Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...
and
gay rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Notably, , 3 ...
activist.
Biography
Daniel Nicoletta was born in New York City and raised in Utica, New York. In his late teens he left New York to attend San Francisco State University, later graduating from the bachelor of arts program. He started his photographic career in 1975 as an intern to
Crawford Barton, who was then a staff photographer for the national gay magazine ''
The Advocate''.
Career
In 1974, when he was 19, Nicoletta first met
Harvey Milk
Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Milk was born and raised in N ...
and
Scott Smith at
Castro Camera
Castro Camera was a camera store in the Castro District of San Francisco, California, operated by Harvey Milk from 1972 until his assassination in 1978. During the 1970s the store became the center of the neighborhood's growing gay community, as ...
, their camera store on
Castro Street; the following year, they hired him to work at the shop.
The three became friends, and Nicoletta worked with Milk on his campaigns for political office. During this period of time, Nicoletta took many now well-known photographs of Milk. When Milk was elected to the
San Francisco Board of Supervisors
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the legislative body within the government of the City and County of San Francisco.
Government and politics
The City and County of San Francisco is a consolidated city-county, being simultaneously a c ...
, he became California's first openly gay elected official; he served for almost eleven months before he and Mayor
George Moscone
George Richard Moscone (; November 24, 1929 – November 27, 1978) was an American attorney and Democratic politician. He was the 37th mayor of San Francisco, California from January 1976 until his assassination in November 1978. He was known ...
were assassinated by
Dan White
Daniel James White (September 2, 1946 – October 21, 1985) was an American politician who assassinated San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, on Monday, November 27, 1978, at City Hall. White was convicted of manslaugh ...
at
City Hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
on November 27, 1978.
After Milk's death, Nicoletta worked to keep his memory alive. He was the installation coordinator of the Harvey Milk photographic tribute plaques installed at Harvey Milk Plaza and at the
Castro Street Station
Castro station is a Muni Metro station at the intersection of Market Street, Castro Street, and 17th Street in The Castro district of San Francisco, California.
Station layout and history
The station consists of two side platforms next to the ...
,
[ which featured his photographs as well as those of Marc Cohen, Don Eckert, Jerry Pritikin, Efren Ramirez, Rink, and Leland Toy. He was co-chair of the Harvey Milk City Hall Memorial Committee, and his photograph served as the basis for the bust of Milk that now resides in the rotunda of San Francisco's City Hall.]
Nicoletta was one of the founders of the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, now known as the Frameline Film Festival
The Frameline Film Festival (aka San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival) (formerly San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival; San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival) began as a storefront event in 1976. The first ...
. In 1977, while still working at Harvey Milk's photography shop, Nicoletta, along with David Waggoner, Marc Huestis
Marc Huestis (born December 26, 1954) is an American filmmaker, camp impresario and social activist. He is best known for his motion picture ''Sex Is...'' and his in-person tributes/benefit events feting celebrities from Hollywood's Golden Age and ...
, and others, began film screenings of their Super 8 films, called the ''Gay Film Festival of Super 8 Films'', which evolved into the yearly festival.
From 1990 to 2000, Nicoletta maintained a photography studio in San Francisco's Hayes Valley neighborhood. The studio provided him a setting for work focused on artistic portraits of queer personalities, community leaders, performers and colorful urban characters. It also served as a cultural and social center where Nicoletta organized parties, salons, memorial services and other events.
Nicoletta's work has documented queer culture
Sexuality and gender identity-based cultures are subcultures and communities composed of people who have shared experiences, backgrounds, or interests due to common sexual or gender identities. Among the first to argue that members of sexual mi ...
from the mid-1970s into the 2000s. In addition to his historic images of Harvey Milk, his subjects include the White Night Riots
The White Night riots were a series of violent events sparked by an announcement of a lenient sentencing of Dan White for the assassinations of George Moscone, the mayor of San Francisco, and of Harvey Milk, a member of the city's Board of Supe ...
, the Castro Street Fair
The 'Castro Street Fair'' is a San Francisco LGBT street festival and fair usually held on the first Sunday in October in the Castro neighborhood, the main gay neighborhood and social center in the city. The fair features multiples stages with li ...
, the San Francisco Pride Parade, The Cockettes
The Cockettes were an avant garde psychedelic hippie theater group founded by Hibiscus (George Edgerly Harris III) in the fall of 1969. The troupe was formed out of a group of hippie artists, men and women, who were living in Kaliflower, one of ...
, and the Angels of Light
Angels of Light were an American folk band that was formed circa 1998 by singer-songwriter and musician Michael Gira after he disbanded Swans, the group he had founded in 1982. The band has marked a distinctly different style for Gira since he ...
, as well as personalities such as Justin Bond
Justin Vivian Bond (born May 9, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Described as "the best cabaret artist of heir!-- MOS:GENDERID --> generation" and a "tornado of art and activism", they first achieved prominence under the pseudon ...
, Loren Cameron, Divine
Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.[divine ...](_blank)
, Mark Ewert
Marcus Ewert, previously known as Mark Ewert, is an American writer, actor and director, living in San Francisco.
Ewert began making and appearing in films in the 1990s. He has appeared in the Gus Van Sant short film ''Four Naked Boys and a Gu ...
, Ruth Weiss, Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...
, Harry Hay
Henry "Harry" Hay Jr. (April 7, 1912 – October 24, 2002) was an American gay rights activist, communist, and labor advocate. He was a co-founder of the Mattachine Society, the first sustained gay rights group in the United States, as well as ...
, G.B. Jones
G. B. Jones (born 1965) is a Canadian artist, filmmaker, musician, and publisher of zines born in Bowmanville, Canada. She is known for producing J.D.s with her acclaimed''Tom Girls'' drawings before going on to create more musically, cinematica ...
, and Sylvester. He also has served as a set photographer for several films, including ''Vegas in Space'' (1992), ''Milk'' (2008) and ''All About Evil'' (2010).[Nicoletta, Daniel. "Resume," from the photographer's website]
DannyNicoletta.com
. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
Publications
Since the late 1970s, Nicoletta's photographs have been widely reproduced in periodicals, including ''The Advocate'', the ''Bay Area Reporter'', ''The Guardian'', the ''Los Angeles Times'', ''The New York Times'', the ''San Francisco Chronicle'', the ''Village Voice'' and ''X-tra West'' (Canada).
His work has appeared in numerous books, including Randy Shilts
Randy Shilts (August 8, 1951February 17, 1994) was an American journalist and author. After studying journalism at the University of Oregon, Shilts began working as a reporter for both '' The Advocate'' and the ''San Francisco Chronicle'', as wel ...
' ''The Mayor of Castro Street'' (1982); Ruth Silverman's ''San Francisco Observed: A Photographic Record'' (1986); Beth Schneider and Nancy E. Stoller's ''Women Resisting AIDS: Feminist Strategies of Empowerment'' (1995) (cover photo); Jim Van Buskirk and Susan Stryker
Susan O'Neal Stryker (born 1961) is an American professor, historian, author, filmmaker, and theorist whose work focuses on gender and human sexuality. She is a professor of Gender and Women's Studies, former director of the Institute for LGBT Stu ...
's ''Gay by the Bay: A Pictorial History of Queer Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area'' (1996); David A. Sprigle's ''Beasts: FotoFactory Anthology II'' (1997); Strange de Jim's ''San Francisco's Castro'' (2003); David Gere's ''How to Make Dances in an Epidemic: Tracking Choreography in the Age of AIDS'' (2004); Joshua Gamson's ''The Fabulous Sylvester: The Legend, the Music, the Seventies in San Francisco'' (2006); Dustin Lance Black
Dustin Lance Black (born June 10, 1974) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and LGBT rights activist. He is known for writing the film ''Milk (2008 American film), Milk'', for which he won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenpl ...
and Armistead Maupin
Armistead Jones Maupin, Jr. ( ) (born May 13, 1944) is an American writer notable for ''Tales of the City'', a series of novels set in San Francisco.
Early life
Maupin was born in Washington, D.C., to Diana Jane (Barton) and Armistead Jones Maup ...
's ''MILK: A Pictorial History of Harvey Milk'' (2009); and Chris March
Christopher Andrew March (February 25, 1963 – September 5, 2019) was an American fashion and costume designer, best known for his appearance as a contestant on season 4 (2007–2008) of Bravo's ''Project Runway''.
He was also on season 4 (2 ...
's ''I Heart Chris March'' (2010) (cover photo).
Harvey Milk "Forever Stamp," issued May 22, 2014. The stamp art centers on a photo of Milk taken in front of his camera store in San Francisco. The colors of the gay pride flag appear in a vertical strip in the top left corner.
Nicoletta's photographs have been featured in a number of documentary films. His images of Harvey Milk appear prominently in the 1985 Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
winning documentary ''The Times of Harvey Milk
''The Times of Harvey Milk'' is a 1984 American documentary film that premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, the New York Film Festival, and then on November 1, 1984, at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco. The film was directed by Rob Epstein, ...
'', directed by Rob Epstein
Robert P. Epstein (born April 6, 1955), is an American director, producer, writer, and editor. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature, for the films ''The Times of Harvey Milk'' and '' Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt ...
. His work also appears in the 1993 Marc Huestis
Marc Huestis (born December 26, 1954) is an American filmmaker, camp impresario and social activist. He is best known for his motion picture ''Sex Is...'' and his in-person tributes/benefit events feting celebrities from Hollywood's Golden Age and ...
film ''Sex Is...''.
Exhibitions
The photographic work of Daniel Nicoletta has been shown in one-artist exhibitions at Josie's Cabaret (San Francisco, 1994); Levi-Strauss Corporate Headquarters (San Francisco, 1996); Overtones Gallery (Los Angeles, 2009); and Electric Works (San Francisco, 2010).
In addition, his prints have appeared in numerous group shows in the United States, including "AIDS: The Artists' Response," Hoyt L. Sherman Gallery, Ohio State University (April 1989); "Group Work: AIDS Timeline", Whitney Biennial
The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, United States. The event began as an annual exhibition in ...
(April 1991); "Harvey Milk: Second Sight," San Francisco Arts Commission
The San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) is the City agency that champions the arts as essential to daily life by investing in a vibrant arts community, enlivening the urban environment and shaping innovative cultural policy in San Francisco, Cali ...
Gallery (October–November 1998); "Out of the Closet," Catharine Clark Gallery
Established in 1991, the Catharine Clark Gallery presents the work of contemporary, living artists using a variety of media. The gallery is located in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill Neighborhood, at 248 Utah Street. The Catharine Clark Gallery is ...
, San Francisco (May–June 2000); "Made in California," Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Pa ...
(October 2000–February 2001); "An Autobiography of the San Francisco Bay Area, Part 1," San Francisco Camerawork (September–October 2009); and "Life and Death in Black and White: AIDS Direct Action in San Francisco, 1985–1990," the GLBT History Museum
The GLBT Historical Society (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society) (formerly Gay and Lesbian Historical Society of Northern California; San Francisco Bay Area Gay and Lesbian Historical Society) maintains an extensive collection ...
, San Francisco (March–June 2012).
His work was featured in the 1997 exhibition "Goodbye to Berlin: 100 Jahre Schwulenbewegung," organized by the Schwules Museum
The Schwules Museum (English: Gay Museum) in Berlin, Germany, is a museum and research centre with collections focusing on LGBTQ+ history and culture. It opened in 1985 and it was the first museum in the world dedicated to gay history.
The muse ...
at the Akademie der Künste
The Academy of Arts (german: Akademie der Künste) is a state arts institution in Berlin, Germany. The task of the Academy is to promote art, as well as to advise and support the states of Germany.
The Academy's predecessor organization was fo ...
in Berlin.
Museum and archival collections
Nicoletta's work is represented in the permanent collections of the James C. Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center at the San Francisco Public Library
The San Francisco Public Library is the public library system of the city and county of San Francisco. The Main Library is located at Civic Center, at 100 Larkin Street. The library system has won several awards, such as ''Library Journals L ...
; the Bancroft Library
The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...
at the University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
; the Wallach Collection of Fine Prints and the Berg Collection at the New York Public Library
The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...
; the Schwules Museum in Berlin, Germany; and the GLBT Historical Society
The GLBT Historical Society (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society) (formerly Gay and Lesbian Historical Society of Northern California; San Francisco Bay Area Gay and Lesbian Historical Society) maintains an extensive collection ...
in San Francisco.
In media
In the feature film ''Milk
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. Immune factors and immune ...
'', a biographical film based on the life of Harvey Milk directed by Gus Van Sant
Gus Green Van Sant Jr. (born July 24, 1952) is an American film director, producer, photographer, and musician. He has earned acclaim as both an independent and mainstream filmmaker. His films typically deal with themes of marginalized subcultur ...
, Daniel Nicoletta is played by Lucas Grabeel
Lucas Stephen Grabeel ( ; born November 23, 1984) is an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He is best known for his role as Ryan Evans in the ''High School Musical'' film series (2006–2008). His other film appearances include ''Halloweent ...
. Nicoletta plays Carl Carlson and served as the still photographer on the film.
Bibliography
*''LGBT San Francisco: The Daniel Nicoletta Photographs'', (Reel Art Press, 2017)
*''Flight of Angels'', Adrian Brooks (author) and Daniel Nicoletta (photographer) (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2008)
*''Gay By The Bay'', Susan Stryker
Susan O'Neal Stryker (born 1961) is an American professor, historian, author, filmmaker, and theorist whose work focuses on gender and human sexuality. She is a professor of Gender and Women's Studies, former director of the Institute for LGBT Stu ...
and Jim Van Buskirk, (Chronicle Books, 1996)
*''The Mayor of Castro Street
''The Mayor of Castro Street'' is a 1982 biography of Harvey Milk, written by Randy Shilts.
Critical reception
''Kirkus Reviews'' wrote that "Shilts' interwoven account of the emergence of San Francisco as a gay mecca--and the accompanying rise i ...
'', Randy Shilts
Randy Shilts (August 8, 1951February 17, 1994) was an American journalist and author. After studying journalism at the University of Oregon, Shilts began working as a reporter for both '' The Advocate'' and the ''San Francisco Chronicle'', as wel ...
, (St. Martin's Press, 1988)
Film
*'' Reel in the Closet'' (2015) directed by Stu Maddux
*''Milk
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. Immune factors and immune ...
'' (2008) directed by Gus Van Sant
Gus Green Van Sant Jr. (born July 24, 1952) is an American film director, producer, photographer, and musician. He has earned acclaim as both an independent and mainstream filmmaker. His films typically deal with themes of marginalized subcultur ...
*'' That Man: Peter Berlin'' (2005) directed by Jim Tushinski
*''Sex Is'' (1993) directed by Marc Huestis
Marc Huestis (born December 26, 1954) is an American filmmaker, camp impresario and social activist. He is best known for his motion picture ''Sex Is...'' and his in-person tributes/benefit events feting celebrities from Hollywood's Golden Age and ...
*''The Times of Harvey Milk
''The Times of Harvey Milk'' is a 1984 American documentary film that premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, the New York Film Festival, and then on November 1, 1984, at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco. The film was directed by Rob Epstein, ...
'' (1984) directed by Rob Epstein
Robert P. Epstein (born April 6, 1955), is an American director, producer, writer, and editor. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature, for the films ''The Times of Harvey Milk'' and '' Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt ...
*''Theatrical Collage'' (1976) directed by Daniel Nicoletta
*''The Advocate for Fagdom'' documentary by Angélique Bosio about queercore filmmaker Bruce La Bruce
Bruce LaBruce (born January 3, 1964) is a Canadian artist, writer, filmmaker, photographer, and underground director based in Toronto.
Life and career
LaBruce was born in Tiverton, Ontario. He has claimed both Justin Stewart and Bryan Bruce as ...
,
References
External links
*
Daniel Nicoletta's photographs
*
''SF Gate'' on an exhibition of Daniel Nicoletta's photographs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicoletta, Daniel
1954 births
Living people
American photojournalists
Gay artists
American LGBT photographers
American LGBT rights activists
Radical Faeries members
Harvey Milk