Gay Semiotics is a set of two dozen iconic photographs with embedded text presented as a tongue-in-cheek anthropological essay on the codes of sexual orientation and identification in 1970s San Francisco. They’re on view through June 27, for the first time in San Francisco since 1977, at Ratio 3 gallery, 2831A Mission St.

Eric Jansen’s guests on this week’s Out in the Bay are gallery associate director Theo Elliott and photographer Hal Fischer, whose photos captured a pivotal moment in the city’s history – a liberating period before the assassinations of Harvey Milk and George Moscone and the devastation of AIDS. Coupled with the gallery exhibit is a re-installation of Fischer’s full-size billboard A Salesman – a reclining male nude with black bar over the eyes and a large phone number – now on display at Ratio 3 through June 27 and outdoors on Market Street between Guerrero and Octavia through June 28. 

Hear the conversation 7pm PDT Thursday, June 18, on kalw.org + 91.7fm SF or later at link below. While you listen, see more of Fischer’s photos.

Image above courtesy of the artist and Ratio 3, San Francisco:

Hal Fischer ~ A Salesman, 1979, 2015 ~Billboard installation