Posted June 28, 2023
Last Friday, in the name of seeking out events that would be fun to shoot, I went to the "Indigiqueer Festival" at Pier 62, off the waterfront in downtown Seattle.
As the name attempts to imply, this celebration concerned the overlap between the Native American and gay communities, and if one suspects that all five members would be in attendance I'm here to tell you that it was actually a very well-populated and lively scene, with music on stage, dancing, craft and literature booths, and lots of mingling in the sunshine. Both sides of the equation, moreover, are known for sartorial extravagance, and the combination here made for a photography gold mine.
The festival was also quite security conscious, and I had to suffer through a bag search at the entrance to the Pier; the search was somewhat humorous as my pack has many pockets, all of which had to be proven innocent, and spoke to a sad and unfortunate reality, as from the moment I entered I was struck, as always, by the relaxed, welcoming warmth of the LGBTQ community. I've also recently re-read J.G Neihardt’s “The Twilight of the Sioux,” so I have renewed allegiance to that half of the agenda, and collected some literature from the girls in the Daybreak Star tent with full sincerity.
And if good art is the key to my support for a cause the rest was unlocked by the terrific performer on stage, a young woman named Nimkish who did catchy deadpan pop numbers with a downright syrupy voice, backed by a single guitarist on stage and synth tracks from the board off to the side.
I tried to get some photos of her, which wasn't easy as the Pier 62 stage is set against a backdrop of bright sunshine on Puget Sound, and in general just mingled and enjoyed the vibe. It was a fun outing.
And yes, it was a difficult event to shoot in black and white, especially when it came to the man who seemed one of the main organizers, who was so flamboyantly outfitted in such blazing colors that I couldn't resist resetting my camera for a shot or two do to him full justice.
