Most of the men who work in that shop are immigrants from Latin America, one of whom was just being deported the other day.

there are these big beautiful black and white prints up on the wall, so when you've had your car smashed up you drive in there and you get out of your car and here are all these skilled mechanics doing their work.ĬC It turns out I like to photograph men doing skilled work also.īR Have you taken pictures of men over the years?ĬC Some gay men. Uptown Body and Fender is in downtown Oakland and the woman who owns that loves art and she hired me to photograph her workers. Recently I've been photographing men doing skilled work. And so one of the first things I did was photograph women in the trades, and photograph my friends tuning their cars, and the Women's Press Collective printing books, and carpenters. It was a time when a lot of lesbians were getting into the trades. The same spring I came out as a lesbian they were very connected. 'It was a time when we all looked to the Chinese Revolution for progressive ideas of making the world a better place for people.'īay Radical You talked before we started taping about how when you first started doing photography, you couldn't believe that women could really use that equipment.īR You started taking pictures in '71 – is that right?ĬC Ya. Gail Grassi and Kate Kaufman repairing a car. You can find them below, each with a little bit of background from her in the caption. ( Her website has details.) I was so excited when Cathy agreed to do an interview with me, and not only did we have a great time talking, but she managed to recruit me to a whole pile of women's history related projects she's involved with!Īlong with the interview, I asked Cathy to chose a few pictures which show how her work has changed over the years. Along with her documentary photo projects, Cathy runs a business as a professional photographer and personal historian. In 1970, Cathy moved to San Francisco where she soon came out as a lesbian and started taking pictures, and her interconnected dedication to social justice and to photography has persisted throughout her life. As an opponent of the Vietnam War, she helped found the Tulane chapter of SDS, and later was an early actor in the Women's Movement. For at least my entire adult life, I've been looking at her pictures in the dozen books and magazines where they've been featured, and in her own book, A Lesbian Photo Album: The Lives of Seven Lesbian Feminists.Ĭathy became an activist while she was in college: in 1966 she joined the Civil Rights Movement, demonstrating and organizing with SNCC. If you have an image in your head of a lesbian feminist, Cathy Cade probably helped put in there.

A Lesbian Photo Album by Cathy Cade