Band of Bikers

In the basement of an apartment building in Manhattan, Scott Zieher discovered a pile of photographs among theeffects of a recently deceased tenant. These photographs, presented for the first time in Band of Bikers, offer anintimate portrait of a group of gay bikers in the city and thewoods, and a touching snapshot of an entire generation atits carefree zenith.

Newly aware of muscle and biker magazines and their heavy-handederoticism, photographer and photographed brimwith a subtly vibrant, chromatic pride. The photographs asa whole bring into focus a brief, specific period of relativeinnocence, when middle-of-the-road Americans more oftenthan not failed to perceive the homoerotic undertones oftheir most heterosexual of institutions. With conceptual lightcast by issues ranging from anonymity in homosexuality andunderground motorcycle chic, to vernacular photography'spop-culture ramifications, a warm and generous spiritof camaraderie pervades this subterranean survey. Likea real-world set forScorpio Rising casually captured byan unpretentious extra, presented as Band of Bikers andaccompanied by an essay by Zieher, this found cache ofold-school, leather party snapshots attains archeologicalsignificance.