The Last Sunday in June by Jamel Shabazz

by Jamel Shabazz

Introduction by Emil Wilbekin. On the last Sunday in June, New York City celebrates Gay Pride Month by staging a parade of floats showboating south down Fifth Avenue to Christopher Street. Originally staged to celebrate the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots of 1969, which mark the birth of the Gay Pride movement and the eventual recognition of rights for gays and lesbians, Gay Pride Month now takes over the West Village in a parade that attracts close to a million people of all genders, sexualities, ethnicities, and classes. The four-on-the-floor thump of house music pumps as caravans of divas, boob-flapping biker gals, and costumed creatures preen, primp, and pucker for cameras and spectators on the street. Equally colorful is the crowd, clapping and cheering for the performers before parading about town themselves. As a follow-up to his crazy successful, fashion and pop culture-influencing book of hip-hop's early daz, Back In The Days, photographer Jamel Shabazz takes a sharp turn in bringing to light a vastly original - and under-documented - emerging subculture in Last Sunday In June. Drawing from an enormous cast of eye-catching characters, Shabazz showcases an extraordinary collection of luscious lesbians, tasteful transsexuals, and dramatic drag queens done up in their Sunday best to celebrate Gay Pride.

Genres: Photography

Hardcover

First published June 1, 2003

About the author

Jamel Shabazz (1960) is best known for his iconic photographs of New York City during the 1980s. A documentary, fashion, and street photographer, he has authored 12 monographs and contributed to over three dozen other photography related books. His photographs have been exhibited worldwide and his work is housed within the permanent collections of The Whitney Museum, The Studio Museum in Harlem, The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, The Fashion Institute of Technology, The Art Institute of Chicago and the Getty Museum.

Over the years, Shabazz has instructed young students at the Studio Museum in Harlem’s “Expanding the Walls” project, The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture “Teen Curator’s” program, and the Bronx Museum’s “Teen Council.” He is also the 2018 recipient of the Gordon Parks award for excellence in the arts and humanitarianism and the 2022 awardee of the Gordon Parks Foundation/Steidl book prize. Jamel is also a member of the photo collective Kamoinge, and a board member of En Foco, another photo collective. His goal as an artist is to contribute to the preservation of world history and culture.

Reviews

[F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shabazz takes us on a journey of self-regard. Where he learnt to continue learning about how large love is by documenting LGBTQ+ people and their culture in Brooklyn. "I no longer pass judgement on others." Shabazz shares. "I strive every day to strengthen my character and to treat everyone with the same respect." What an intimate revelation. Seeing someone's self awareness bud through photography is a beautiful use of the camera. Shabazz is brave to look in while looking out his lens.