Offered here is a rare gelatin silver photograph by American actor and photographer Tom McBride (1952–1995). Although best remembered for his acting career—including his appearance in the slasher classic Friday the 13th Part 2—McBride also produced a compelling body of photographic work documenting gay life in New York City and on Fire Island during the 1980s.
After publicly coming out as gay, McBride's acting career largely disappeared, and he turned his creative focus toward photography. Diagnosed with HIV, he continued working until his death in 1995. His life and final years were later chronicled in the 1996 documentary Life and Death on the A-List, directed by Jay Corcoran.
This signed gelatin silver print, titled Pines (edition 7/89), is one of the few examples to appear outside institutional or private collections. The image measures 12”x8” (frame c. 17”x13”). The composition captures the back of a solitary male figure gazing across the shimmering reflection of two reclining men beside a swimming pool—a quietly evocative image that embodies the intimacy, beauty, and fleeting nature of Fire Island life before and during the AIDS crisis.
Rarely offered for sale, this photograph represents an important intersection of queer history, documentary photography, and late twentieth-century American visual culture.