I began to feel a shift in energy as soon as I left to embark on my journey down to Staten Island. A commute that was over 2 hours, on one of the warmest days this summer, felt like the breeze that caressed my face as I watched the water sway us onto the dock. Alice’s house wasn’t as extravagant as I had expected; hearing of her fame and fortune, I expected to be met with lavish displays of wealth, as expected during the Gilded Age. Instead, her home was rich in intimacy and simplicity, a luxury rarely afforded even to the wealthiest of people. I sat on her porch and looked onto the water, a quiet sense of calm filled my body as I closed my eyes and began to imagine her life––the Larky Life.
My group and I used up all of our film as we attempted to follow the assignment, but a burst of creativity overtook me at times, something I think Alice would’ve encouraged. One of the images in particular was of my classmate, Paula, on a bicycle. In the exhibit there was an image of Alice’s ex-girlfriend, Gertrude Tate, showing the proper way for women to ride a bike at the time. As we explored the grounds of Alice’s house we saw a bicycle sitting parked under the bright summer sun. I thought it would be a good idea to take an image of someone getting on the bike to show how far women’s right’s have come. At the time, it wasn’t even normal for women to wear pants let alone jeans––funny enough all the women in my group wore jeans that day.
A feeling of wonder actually loomed over me throughout the exhibit. Alice hid away this intimate side of her from the public, one that is being celebrated now by so many. I can’t help but wonder what her life would’ve been like if she was born at a different time, what she could’ve accomplished if the expectations of society didn’t weigh her down. Yet, her life was a protest against social norms, and the images an immortal heirloom she left us all. To feel the sense of freedom behind these images is a reminder to all queer people, like myself, that our joy has always existed, quietly carving out spaces of radical love long before the world was ready to name it. Alice’s lens didn’t’t just capture her present. She developed a blueprint for our future. We are the continuation of her unyielding spirit, living openly in the very light she spent a lifetime capturing.
