Fred McDarrah’s ‘Village Voice’ photos of LGBTQ+ movement
The New-York Historical Society presents an expansive photography exhibition, Fred W. McDarrah: Pride and Protest. Depicting moments in the history of LGBTQ+ civil rights captured by famed Village Voice photographer Fred McDarrah in the latter half of the 20th century, the exhibition features more than 60 black-and-white photographs. The images—on view November 22, 2024 through July 13, 2025—offer unique insights into the triumphs and struggles of LGBTQ+ history, including the Mattachine Society “Sip-In” at Julius’ Bar on 10th Street in 1966, the Stonewall Uprising in 1969, and the annual Pride marches that followed.
“Fred McDarrah’s work offers a fascinating window into a volatile time in American history, as the LGBTQ+ community pushed for equal rights,” Louise Mirrer, president and CEO, New-York Historical, said. “We hope these remarkable photographs on view will help our visitors better understand the history of activism and protest as those efforts continue today.”
McDarrah often captured moments that other photographers didn’t; he was one of the only photographers present on the first night of the Stonewall Uprising, and in the days that followed photographed young people standing in front of the Stonewall Inn. In later years, he followed AIDS marches and ACT UP protests at City Hall and photographed the AIDS Memorial Quilt. He was also present on March 1, 1993, when Mayor David Dinkins’ order for extended domestic partnership laws went into effect and couples lined up to apply.
“Fred McDarrah saw his camera as his diary and his ticket to document history as it was unfolding around him,” Marilyn Satin Kushner, curator and head, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, said. “His career spanned decades at the Village Voice, and with his camera at his side, he photographed monumental changes in the LGBTQ+ community and New York City alike.”
Other photos on view capture the vibrancy and culture of Greenwich Village during the latter half of the 20th century. James Baldwin, Andy Warhol, Marsha P. Johnson, Susan Sontag, Cecil Beaton, Candy Darling, Tennessee Williams, and Larry Kramer are among the many personalities seen in McDarrah’s photographs. Additional images will be rotated in the exhibition midway through its run.
Fred W. McDarrah: Pride and Protest was first presented by MUUS at Paris Photo in November 2023. It was originally curated by New Yorker writer Vince Aletti. It is curated at New-York Historical by Marilyn Satin Kushner, curator and head, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections; Rebecca Klassen, curator of material culture; and Jeanne Gutierrez, curatorial scholar in women’s history.
About Fred W. McDarrah
Fred McDarrah (1926-2007) was an American staff photographer for the Village Voice, famous for documenting social and cultural phenomena of the downtown New York scene in the pivotal decades of the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s. One of his most significant series of photographs immortalized the beginning of the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement, as one of the only photographers on the scene at the Stonewall Uprising. With his camera steadily focused on social justice movements, McDarrah also photographed marches and demonstrations for women’s rights, environmental activism, Vietnam War protests, and the historic March on Washington in 1963.
In addition to his photographs of activism, McDarrah chronicled the New York artistic scene, photographing artists, musicians, and actors turned cultural icons: Jack Kerouac, Bob Dylan, Janice Joplin, Andy Warhol, Gloria Steinem, Allen Ginsberg, and Dustin Hoffman are all present among his thousands of photographs. His work creates a historically significant archive that captures some of the most important cultural and political shifts in America.
