L.A. PRIDE 2011

Cali & the WEHO Cheerleaders

I've been going to L.A. PRIDE for 25 years (since I was 16) but this was the first time I ever walked in the parade. A friend who works for NBCUniversal invited me and my doggy Cali to walk with the OUT@NBCUniveral group. It was very exhilarating and fun and the adrenaline pumped me up for the whole day! - Lydia Marcus

Here are my favorite photos from PRIDE:


Cali & Lucille Ball impersonator


Cali is full of PRIDE. Posing in front of an old MTA bus


Me & Cali


Me & Cali walking in the parade




With all the noise, people, moving vehicles, and general mania, Cali kept looking back and checking that I was still behind her.


Olympian Johnny Weir strikes a pose. He was the parade's Grand Marshal

Madame Tussaud's had a float with wax figures of Lady Gaga and Jane Lynch. From a distance I saw Jane and thought she was actually in the parade. The likeness is uncanny.






Heaven is missing two gay angels. :-)


Love these t-shirts! Take that Fred Phelps!

The WEHO Cheerleaders show their spirit!







The focus isn't perfect, but I like the moment - WEHO Sheriffs in front of the Pride festival entrance.



Tons of attendance at the Parade. A view of the crowd


The BRAVO TV contingent: Jenni Pulos, Andy Cohen, Zoila, and Jeff Lewis.





Madison Hildebrand from Million Dollar Listing



OUT@NBCU workers dancing on the route. It was so much fun walking alongside these guys and gals because they really got the crowd pumped up.



L.A. Pride
June 12, 2011, West Hollywood CA
© Lydia Marcus Photography
Nikon D5100 / Nikon 35mm f/1.8 G

LEGALIZE GAY

I spent yesterday evening in West Hollywood, celebrating victory that Prop 8 (which banned same sex marriage in the state of California) was declared unconstitutional. I saw this window display on the corner of San Vicente & Santa Monica Boulevard at the American Apparel store. I just love the slogan "Legalize Gay" - funny and powerful. American Apparel sells t-shirts and tank tops emblazoned with those two words and currently they're offering a buy 1 get 1 free on their website. Now's a great time to buy!

"Legalize Gay" American Apparel Window Display
© Lydia Marcus 2010 / www.lydiamarcus.com
August 4, 2010 West Hollywood, CA

MADCHEN IN UNIFORM DVD

Earlier this year I shot and directed a behind the scenes extra for the upcoming Wolfe Video DVD of the 1958 remake of "MADCHEN IN UNIFORM". I also interviewed filmmaker Katherine Brooks to discuss how the original 1931 version of "MADCHEN IN UNIFORM" inspired her to make "Loving Annabelle". All three films feature a student's crush on her boarding school teacher, but in 2006, "Loving Annabelle" took it a step further to a full-fledged affair.

For a 1958 film, "MADCHEN IN UNIFORM" is amazingly bold about the lesbian content and I was quite surprised how far this German film went. Compare how Germans portrayed lesbianism on screen in '58 to how Americans did it later in '61 with "The Children's Hour" and you will be amazed how far behind we were.

Unfortunately the 1931 original is still not available on DVD. I saw it once, over 20 years ago, at an art house revival screening somewhere in Los Angeles. I consider myself very knowledgeable about queer cinema (in fact that was my specialty when I was an entertainment journalist and film critic) and I never even knew there was a remake until Wolfe approached me to do the DVD extra! So the fact that the '58 version is going to be available on DVD is utterly fantastic.

Netflix is waiting to see how much demand there is for "MADCHEN IN UNIFORM" before they buy copies of it to make it available to customers. So please save this DVD to your queue right now. Here's the Netflix link, http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Madchen_in_Uniform/70142638, just click and hit save to dvd queue. Thanks! - Lydia Marcus

You can also buy the DVD for only $13.46 from WolfeVideo.com

Here's the plot of "MADCHEN IN UNIFORM" according to Netflix:

"Sent to an austere, all-girls boarding school after the death of her parents, spunky orphan Manuela von Meinhardis (Romy Schneider) soon develops a sensual attraction to one of her teachers, the beautiful Elisabeth von Bernburg (Lilli Palmer). As Manuela's forbidden attraction becomes stronger, the suggestion of lesbian scandal sends the school's headmistress into a rage. Géza von Radványi's directs this 1958 remake of the 1931 classic."

And here's a description of the DVD extra:

"Includes special bonus featurette: From Manuela To Annabelle (in which director Katherine Brooks discusses how Madchen in Uniform inspired Loving Annabelle)."

THE QUEER FILM EXPERT

I interviewed Jenni Olson for my documentary "Desert Hearts Mon Amour" and shot this with my Nikon D80 / 50mm f/1.8 lens after we finished rolling. I thought the DGA little theater (aka DGA Video / DGA 3) was the perfect setting to interview Jenni. We both had seen many great films in that theater in the early days of Outfest.

Jenni Olson is director of e-commerce at WolfeVideo.com and one of the world's leading experts on LGBT cinema history. Author of The Queer Movie Poster Book (2005, Chronicle Books), Jenni was also one of the founders of PlanetOut.com where she established the massive queer film industry resource, PopcornQ. She continues to write about queer films, as well as curating, collecting, and creating them. Her feature debut, The Joy of Life is now available on DVD. Her website is www.butch.org.





Jenni Olson
© Lydia Marcus / www.lydiamarcus.com
Photographed July 11, 2010 in Los Angeles, CA at the Directors Guild of America

OUTFEST 2010

A Tigress & A Cougar - Meowwwww! "Momma" Dearest & Me, Outfest Opening Night Party.

Outfest has been a summertime tradition for me since 1987. This year is the 28th Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.

Tickets are still available for many films, panels, and events. Go to outfest.org.





Photo © Lydia Marcus / www.lydiamarcus.com
Photographed July 8, 2010 in Downtown Los Angeles

HAPPY PRIDE WEEKEND!

The comedians of Chelsea Lately did a bunch of funny PSAs to celebrate 40 years of Pride in Los Angeles. All the videos can be found the CSWLAPRIDE You Tube channel.

Here are a few of my favorites:









To get more info about L.A. Pride events go to lapride.org and facebook.

AN EVENING WITH WOMEN 2010

This past Saturday I photographed An Evening With Women for the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center. I had the best view in the house - front of the stage - for live performances from Heart, Pink, Linda Perry, Sarah Silverman, and Gina Gershon, plus an appearance by Renee Zellweger. I photographed the entire evening with my dreamy and tack sharp Nikon 85mm f/1.4 lens.

Nancy Wilson of Heart




Ann Wilson belts out Barracuda


A heart shaped soundhole on the guitar


Center supporter and Oscar winner Renee Zellweger


Pink and Linda Perry duet


Pink poses with the lucky live auction winner who bid $12,000 for this Vespa autographed by Pink (who also rode it onstage).


Pink being a badass - making the most of her props - the Vespa, a wine glass, and cigarette smoke. My favorite photo from the night.


I love Pink's new natural look - she's so beautiful and talented.


Hostess Gina Gershon. She performed two songs, What's New Pussycat and Is That All There Is?


I think this is a move leftover from the Goddess routine in Showgirls




Sarah Silverman - possibly the funniest Jewess on the planet.


Gina recalling another Showgirls scene (remember Cristal wanting a manicure from Nomi before deciding she's too old for the "whorey look"


Cherie Currie posing with her son. Cherie was a teen rock goddess in The Runaways and now she's a chainsaw artist!


The great and powerful Jean - Lorri L. Jean - CEO of the Center. Love her!


L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's "An Evening With Women: Celebrating Art, Music & Equality"
Featuring Renee Zelwegger and Sarah Silverman, hosted by Gina Gershon, musical performances by Linda Perry, Pink, and Heart
© Lydia Marcus 2010 / www.lydiamarcus.com
May 1, 2010 in Beverly Hills, CA at the Beverly Hilton Hotel

Full set of photos on my flickrstream.

Photographed with a Nikon D80 Nikon D80 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera (Body only) and Nikon 85mm f/1.4 lens

A VERY GAY GALA

Last week I photographed the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center’s 38th Anniversary Gala and Auction at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza. I circulated around the silent auction and cocktail reception to take photos of the attendees and then took live shots of the famous presenters and award recipients during the show.

I shot the reception and silent auction with my Nikon D80, Nikon 17-55 f/2.8 lens, off camera SB-800 flash and a Gary Fong Lightsphere, and used my 85mm f/1.4 lens during the show set at f/1.7, ISO 1250, and spot metering.

Here are my favorite shots from the evening:


Chelsea Handler, host of the show





Jay Leno, presented the Rand Schrader Distinguished Achievement Award to Wanda Sykes. Leno said of his talk show, ”We do jokes about pop culture and about fashion, but we never joke about human rights.”

Wanda has some great expressions!






Miss Coco Peru (aka Clinton Leupp), recipient of the Board of Directors Award.


This shadow of Miss Coco Peru on the stage curtain is one of my favorite shots from the night. I love spotting photographic moments that other people probably wouldn't notice.

There was a great painting of Coco for sale at the silent auction and I waited awhile until I spotted some cute guys who I thought would look cute posing with the portrait.




Zachary Quinto from "Star Trek" and "Heroes" presented Coco with her award. He was difficult to photograph because he was really serious and I kept waiting for a moment where he was smiling. This is the closest I got.


Amber Riley from "Glee" performed.


She had a great voice and personality.


This is Lorri L. Jean, CEO of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center. She's very approachable and nice and a TERRIFIC public speaker. She gave a very rousing speech where she described herself as a "patriot."


I thought she looked very pretty this evening as well.


Lori, Chelsea, and Miss Coco.

During the cocktail reception, they had two sketch artists doing funny portraits of guests.



I just loved this artist's jacket.





These chairs were auction items. Instead of just shooting static shots of them, I asked two gals who were standing nearby if they would pose with them and they were happy to oblige.


I asked this couple to pose with this auction painting because their clothing complimented the shot. Instead of taking a basic shot of the couple or a simple shot of the painting, putting these ingredients together made a more fun and visually appealing shot. The blue tie went with the tones in the painting and the red dress added a nice dollop of contrast.


These photos were up for auction. On the left a portrait of Andy Warhol by Michael Childers. On the right a portrait of Grace Jones (I think possibly shot by Childers too). I would have loved to have bid on the Grace Jones photo but was just too busy shooting to do it.


I asked to take a photo of these gentlemen because they were so darn good looking and dressed so elegantly in black tie.


During the show, there was entertainment from this senior troup from The Center. They danced and sang their asses off and were a lot of fun to watch. When I grow up I want to be just like them!

Photo Credits: © Lydia Marcus 2009 / www.lydiamarcus.com
Photographed October 24, 2009 in Century City, CA
At the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center’s
38th Anniversary Gala and Auction