Gotta cigarette?

Here's another very cool event taking place next weekend in Long Island City - an opening for a photography exhibit by Leee Black Childers called "Gotta Cigarette?"

This simple request opened a new world for Leee Black Childers. In 1968, standing alone in the summer night on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village, a shy, newly arrived boy from Kentucky, Leee was approached by an impressive figure. Towering over him, wearing a giant blonde wig, extremely thick black false eyelashes, and 6 inch platform boots was the woman of his young nightmares. His first New York Drag Queen..."Gotta cigarette?"

Leee didn't smoke and he didn't have a cigarette, but he soon learned that that was not the answer to the question. There are boys in Rome, Paris, and Hong Kong who know very little English beyond "Gotta cigarette?" In darkened streets and alleys all over the world, this is the accepted introduction of one outcast to another. In this night world of prostitutes, drag queens, pickpockets, con artists, and rent boys, Leee found his inspiration.

Starting as his high school yearbook photographer, he carried this experience into a career in photography, specializing in rock and roll. From Andy Warhol's Factory to David Bowie's Ziggy to London's Punk Anarchy, Leee was there. During his travels with various bands, he continued to photograph drag queens and rent boys he met along the way. He has put many of these photographs together now into a show featuring some of his most memorable discoveries.

Sadly, the natural habitat of these night people is now being erased. Times Square in New York, London's Soho, and other traditional "seedy" neighborhoods are being turned into family friendly tourist spots threatening the survival of their previous citizens. But, ever resilient, Leee found that his favorite people have adapted to the future and carried their activities successfully into the future and into the internet.

In this exhibition, Leee is showing a selection of drag queens and rent boys who have played a memorable part in his life alongside a number of recent photographs of the new boys of the internet -- boys who are just as beautiful and charming as the boys of the grand old days of 53rd and 3rd, but now available, from all over the world, in the comfort of your own home screens.

Opening Reception: Sat., Sept. 26, 6-9PM
Subdivision Art
Tel: 718-482-1899
48-18 Vernon Blvd - take the #7 Train to Vernon Blvd (one stop from Grand Central)
Long Island City, NY 11101