Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Vincent Cianni adds to the historical record of the struggles of gays and lesbians in the US military. Gays In The Military: Photographs And Interviews reveals stories of men and women who served in silence in this -apt coda to an experience marked by an evolution from darkness into light.---The New York Times
Documentary photographer Vincent Cianni graduated from Penn State university, the Maryland Institute College of Art, and SUNY New Paltz. He teaches photography at Parsons The New School of Design, NYC. He currently lives in Newburgh, NY. Cianni's documentary work explores community and memory, the human condition, and the use of image and text. His photographs have been exhibited at Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Philadelphia Museum of Art; The Nasher Museum, Photographers' Gallery, London; the 7th International Photography Festival in Mannheim; and the George Eastman House. A major survey of his work was exhibited at the Museum of the City of New York in 2006.
Synopsis
Through compelling photographs and interviews made over three years on numerous road trips across the US, Vincent Cianni (born 1952) has created an important historical record of the struggles of gay and lesbian men and women in the US military. As the Human Rights Commission attests, the US military has a long history of human and civil rights abuses against homosexuals, with harassment and discrimination frequently resulting in lost careers and damaged lives. In many cases, these men and women had attained high rank, received numerous medals and held top-level jobs that were essential to the military. With essays by Alan Steinman, Don Bramer and Alison Nordstrom that shed light on the political, personal and cultural consequences of the ban, this volume reveals the stories of men and women who served in silence, suffered decades of abuses and often were penalized and prohibited from receiving the benefits accorded them for serving in the military.