Before The AIDS Crisis, This Chicago Spot Gave Gay Men Space To Breathe
In 1985, photographer Doug Ischar captured a quiet, lakeside haven where gay men gathered in the shadow of the AIDS crisis. His photo series Marginal Waters documented life at Chicago’s Belmont Rocks—a rare public space where men could relax, connect, and be seen.
As reported by Jacqui Palumbo for CNN, the beach no longer exists, but Ischar’s images are being rediscovered for what they are: records of presence during a time of mass erasure.
The photos, now part of the City In A Garden exhibition, show the ordinary intimacy most people never saw. There’s no performance. No posing. Just connection.
The beach was eventually demolished. The men in the photos are mostly anonymous. But the images still speak.
As Jacqui Palumbo reports, Ischar feared the life he was documenting wouldn’t survive. In some ways, it didn’t. In others, it left a mark.
Read the full story and see the photos at CNN.
