The opening weekend of PrideFEST 2016 has seen a series of events take place across the state ranging from social events, to rainbow ice-skating and community forums.
OUTinPerth has presented a photo exhibition titled People, Parties and Protests which reveals 21 images from the publications extensive digital archive.
The photos on display in the OUTinPerth office in Northbridge feature images taken over the last decade.
Among the images recognisable faces including radio presenter Colin Bridges, Connections nightclub owner Tim Brown, Dame Edna, performance artists Strykermeyer and Ash Baroque, and legal scholar Michael Kirby.
The exhibition also captures moments from the annual Pride parade, the stroke of midnight at New Years Eve, Connection’s Nightclub’s 40th birthday, and an Australia Day foam party at The Court Hotel.
Also included are many images from the campaign for marriage equality, whether it be Equal Love street marches, moments from the Pride Parade, or protests outside Margaret Court’s Victory Life Centre.
The exhibition has been staged in OUTinPerth’s new office at 3 / 377 Newcastle Street in Northbridge.
Graeme Watson, one of the publishers of the magazine, said the most amazing part of the exhibition had been the stories people have shared while viewing it.
“So many of the people who have dropped by to see the images have told us stories relating to the pictures. Whether it be their memories of The Arcade Bookshop, which appears in the background of one image, or their memories of pride parades in the past.
“There was one photo which was taken at Connections Nightclub on Pride Night in 2009, a stunning face draped in a net veil. We didn’t know who the photo was of, until Ash Baroque called in an revealed it was their face in the image.” Watson said.
Watson said he and co-owner Leigh Hill had quite a challenge picking 21 images from the hundreds of thousands that are in the publication’s archive.
“We really looked for photos that were more than the standard social images of people out having a good time. We searched for pictures that had intriguing elements that would make you look at the images for longer.
“Often when your out taking photos, whether it be protests or social photos, there are images you capture which might not be what you need right now, but given the passage of time they take on new meaning and significance.”
Many of the images in the exhibition have never been published or displayed in public before.
Asked what his favourite image in the collection is Watson said he would never be able to pick one, but highlighted an image taken at a Foam Party at The Court Hotel on Australia Day in 2013.
“It’s a shot of the beer garden taken from the roof of the bar, there’s over 100 people in the photo, all drenched in foam. It’s a total ‘Where’s Wally?’ image that you can interrogate and discover so many little things.” Watson said.
People, Parties and Protests – photos from the OUTinPerth archive is on display on Sunday November 13th until 6pm.
From Monday November 14th to Friday November 18th the photos will be on display in the OUTinPerth office between 10am and 4pm. Â Â
During the week OUTinPerth will also be presenting The Repository, a reading room that will allow members of the public to view a selection of magazines from the publication’s archives.
Included in the display will be issues of OUTinPerth, as well as older Western Australians LFBTI publications including shOUT, The Westside Observer, WOW and WAX. Interstate publications including The Star Observer, Q-News, Fuse, and many others will also be included.
OIP Staff
