Donna Gottschalk

Donna Gottschalk is an American photographer who was active in the 1970s and came out as lesbian around the time that Radicalesbians and the Furies Collective formed.[1]

Donna Gottschalk
Born
New York, New York
NationalityAmerican
Known forPhotography

Personal life

Gottschalk grew up poor on the working-class Lower East Side, living in low-income tenement housing, one of four children (Mary, Myla, and Vinnie). Her single mother was of Irish and Italian descent and operated a beauty parlour since the 1950s. Her father was a merchant marine who suffered from untreated mental illness and alcoholism and was not allowed in the home due to frequent physical abuse.[2][3][4] In the 1960s, she studied illustration at the High School of Art and Design. Through school, she met other lesbians who took her to iconic lesbian bars. She also became involved in the Gay Liberation Front. Gottschalk designed the "Lavender Menace" t-shirt worn by lesbian-feminist activists protesting the National Organization for Women's homophopia.[5] Her sister Myla (born Alfie) first came out as a gay man and then as a trans woman; Gottschalk documented Myla's transition beginning in 1992 through a photographic series. Due to being HIV+, struggling with narcotics and alcohol addictions, and suffering from violent transphobic attacks, Myla died in 2003.[6]

She moved to California to join lesbian separatist communities. While in California, she worked as an artist's model, a topless bartender, and the driver of horse-drawn carriages.[7]

Gottschalk lives on a small farm in Victory, Vermont.[8]

Career

Gottschalk was not a photojournalist or a documentary photographer but has been taking photos since she was 17. Her work is shown for the first time in the exhibition BRAVE, BEAUTIFUL OUTLAWS: The Photographs of Donna Gottschalk curated by Deborah Bright at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art from August 29, 2018.[7][9] Some of Gottschalks photographs have been published in the Gay Liberation Front newspaper. Her photos were in storage for 40 years. The subjects of Gottschalk's photos are her friends, family and roommates.[2]

Photojournalist Diana Davies took a photo of Gottschalk at the 1970 Christopher Street Liberation Day parade that shows her holding a sign reading: "I am your worst fear I am your best fantasy".[10][11]

References
  1. Faderman, Lillian (2016-09-27). The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781451694123.
  2. AnOther (2018-08-29). "The Artist Who Photographed the LGBTQ Movement's 'Brave, Beautiful' Outlaws". AnOther. Retrieved 2018-08-31.
  3. "Rebel Rebel: Ariel Goldberg on Donna Gottschalk". ArtForum. Retrieved 2020-12-05.
  4. "The Brave and Defiant Warriors". Suited Magazine. Retrieved 2020-12-05.
  5. "The pioneering American photographer who captured 1970s lesbian culture". 2018-09-08.
  6. "Donna Gottschalk Captured Her Brother's Transition From Male To Female". Carrie Able Gallery. Retrieved 2020-12-05.
  7. "The Most Famous Lesbian Photographer You've Never Heard of — Until Now". Retrieved 2018-08-29.
  8. "I realized the magic of lesbian women like me thanks to this 1970s photographer". HelloGiggles. Retrieved 2020-12-05.
  9. "BRAVE, BEAUTIFUL OUTAWS: The Photographs of Donna Gottschalk". Leslie-Lohman Museum. 2018-01-09. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
  10. "The unsung photographer who chronicled 1970s lesbian life". CNN Style. 2018-09-21. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  11. "How Donna Gottschalk became an icon for girls who love girls". Gay Star News. 2018-09-29. Retrieved 2018-10-08.
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