Very few icons of Dan Nicoletta's quality are alive today — he is one of the creative, elegant, proud gay men for which San Francisco is justly famous. The photographer's new exhibit is called
"More Glitter — Less Bitter." We hardly understand: No one has a better claim on bitter than a man who was close to Harvey Milk at the time of his assassination, and why would you give up such privilege? You could be bitter every day, Dan Nicoletta, and no one would blame you. It would be like a dream come true. Instead, his show features an uplifting, glorious mix of images of the exuberant local LGBT community, both new and vintage. The cast of
Pearls over Shanghai shimmer endlessly in his frames; the revival of this 1970s musical now nears its one-year mark, and you can see why. It's joyful-slut city. In Gus Van Sant's film
Milk, Nicoletta appeared two ways: as a character played by Lucas Grabeel, and through Van Sant's use of epic archival images of the supervisor, taken by the young Nicoletta — here, they shine in their own way.
An opening reception for "More Glitter — Less Bitter" starts at 6 p.m.
June 4-July 10, 2010
