Celebrity Photographer Brings Message to Florida
By Bob Kecskemety
Up to 150 people attended the NOH8 Campaign photo shoot held this past Monday, June 21, 2010 at CopyThis on Wilton Drive. People came from as far as Virginia to attend the shoot. California-based celebrity photographer, Adam Bouska and his partner Jeff Parshley were Grand Marshals of this year’s Stonewall Street Festival and Parade and held the official photo shoot the following day. Monies raised from the shoot go to the couple’s NOH8 Campaign which is attempting to raise awareness of the lack of equal rights for the gay community, including the lack of marriage rights, through their multi-media campaign.
After the passage of the anti-gay marriage Proposition 8 in California, Bouska and Parshley took photos of themselves in the now-familiar NOH8 theme. Soon friends wanted their photo taken in the same style and then friends of friends followed by total strangers nationwide. Together they formed the NOH8 Campaign, a 501(c)(3) organization calling for equal rights for the LGBT community.
Most of the over 5,000 photos shot thus far for the campaign have been taken on the west coast in California. This was Bouska’s first shoot in the southeast United States. “We’re excited to get a new voice to the cause,” said Bouska. “This shows that [LGBT marriage rights] is not just a California issue.”
“For us the [popularity of the photos] is a bit overwhelming,” stated Bouska when asked about the popularity of the photos. “We never intended it to become this big organization. But now that we see these people getting involved in lending their faces and telling their stories, we felt it was our responsibility to get those stories heard. Equal right is not just a California issue. Everyone has the right to have their rights protected and if one person’s rights are at risk, everyone’s rights are at risk.”
For more information please visit the NOH8 Campaign website.
