[Leica] A Photograph and a few comments about Orlando and the Philly Gay Pride Parade

[Jim Shulman]

Today I did about the only thing I could do in light of Orlando: dusted off
my culottes, packed a dozen rolls of film along with my Bronica S2,  and
marched in the Philly Gay Pride Parade—exactly as I’ve done every year
since '79 (my feet ached less then, though I was also several stone
lighter.) The purpose of terrorism is to get people to panic and hide,
which I refuse to do (Including when I walked around Boston the day of the
dragnet/shutdown.)  After a Facebook friend put out one of those fatuous
"be alert and be safe" notes (of course, from some aerie far from the
streets), I said that fearing attack the day after Orlando is like one of
those irrational snowstorm warnings that come immediately AFTER every major
snowstorm. The best place to be is out on the street—and ironically, after
a mass shooting one of the safest, since the streets were packed with
police, and I’m sure no shortage of plainclothes FBI personnel.  I’ve lived
long enough to remember the Upstairs Lounge arson attack in ’73, Dan
White’s rampage in ’78, and God knows how many shootings, stabbings, and
other horrors since.  Still here, still marching—next in NYC, Baltimore,
and many other spots where fine homosexuals are served.



http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/focusit/Philly+Pride+Parade+06+12+16+sm.jpg.html



Bronica S2, Zenzanon 150/3.5, Arista EDU100 at 200



Jim Shulman

Wynnewood, PA