Danny in the early years.Danny at work 2010
Danny Nicoletta has been living and working within the Castro and it's Queer world since 1975. His lens has captured some of the most pivotal moments of our times over the last 37 years. From the formative days of Harvey Milk, the activist era of Queer Nation and ACT UP, the many neighborhood transitions and occupants, to our current moments of modern triumphs Danny has been there to grab the perfect shot.
His career as a San Francisco based freelance photographer began in 1975 as an intern to Crawford Barton, who was then the staff photographer for Advocate Magazine. He worked in Harvey Milk's camera store in the heart of the Castro district and was also involved in Milk's victorious election to public office as one of the first openly Gay elected officials in the world.
He credits Crawford and Harvey for instilling him with a great love of photography as a tool for recording history in the making. He also was deeply influenced by the black and white, beauty tempered, grainy grit of Max Waldman pictures who was one of Life magazine's most prolific photographers. Danny's photographic work maps his enduring romance with San Francisco and it's people, especially the LGBT community.
I've been lucky enough to be friends with Danny since 1987 when we first met at Cafe Flore, then the hub of AIDS/Queer Activist movement, where his easy way and gentle humor was a welcome relief amidst the ugly horror of life during the worst of the AIDS war years. In 1990 he opened a studio in an old bakery and began to take amazing portraits of famous and infamous San Franciscans from all walks of life. He continued to grab all the action shots that first brought him attention, but, the fine art of these portraits gave his work a depth of soul that wasn't dependent on the impromptu of being at the heart of an action or event. The ability to control the environment entirely expanded his art and vision.
His work has appeared in a myriad of publications, exhibitions, gallery's and museums. It's available for purchase and commissions. You can reach him here.
All photos used with permission of Daniel Nicoletta and under copyright.
