<I>Justin, Unity Human Rights Ball, Manhattan, NY, November 11, 2016</I>
date: label: Date
content: November 11, 2016
name: label: Photograph by
content: Gerard H. Gaskin, Trinidadian American, born 1965
notes: label: Caption
content: "The balls are a celebration of black and Latino urban gay life. They were born in Harlem out of a need for black and Latino gays to have a safe space to express themselves. Balls are constructed like beauty and talent pageants. The participants work to redefine and critique gender and sexual identity through an extravagant fashion masquerade. Women and men become fluid, interchangeable points of departure and reference, disrupting the notion of a fixed and rigid gender and sexual self. My images try to show a more personal and intimate beauty, pride, dignity, courage, and grace that have been painfully challenged by mainstream society. All of this happens at night in small halls in cities all over the country. These photographs, taken in New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, and Washington, D.C., show us different views of these spaces as they are reflected in the eyes of house and ball members who perform what they wish these cities could be." – Gerard H. Gaskin
label: Description
content: A color digital image portrait of Justin captured at the Unity Human Rights Ball in New York City in November 2016. Justin is pictured standing against a grey background, wearing a purple, short-sleeved hooded dashiki. The dashiki has a black zipper at the center, which is surrounded by strips of black fabric on each side. The center portion of the garment has orange, red, and yellow printed designs and the outermost pattern of the central design is electric blue, pink, yellow, black, and white. The sleeves and bottom hem have a black and gold trim. Justin’s hands are in his pockets, which also have multi-colored designs. There is a purple wristband on his proper right wrist. His head is tilted to the right and he looks directly at the camera.
place: label: Place captured
content: Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Communities
label: Topic
content: Dance
label: Topic
content: Fashion
label: Topic
content: Gender
label: Topic
content: Identity
label: Topic
content: LGBTQ
label: Topic
content: Music
label: Topic
content: Nightlife
label: Topic
content: Photography
label: Topic
content: Sexuality
label: Topic
content: Urban life
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Portfolio/Series
content: Legendary Portraits
label: Classification
content: Photographs and Still Images
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Gerard H. Gaskin
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2019.44.2
objectType: label: Type
content: portraits
label: Type
content: digital images
label: Type
content: digital media - born digital
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © Gerard H. Gaskin
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: digital
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 5760 pixels × 3840 pixels
label: Dimensions
content: 189.09 MB