David Lê

David Lê (b. 1985) was born on Staten Island, on Swan Street — where he shot the images that are displayed in this exhibition. He is an alumnus of P.S. 16 and I.S. 61. His photography practice began in earnest when he spent a year cataloguing modernist architecture in Hanoi, Vietnam as a Fulbright Scholar in 2008. He went on to study the intersection of public religion and memorialization during his doctoral studies at Brown University. In 2019, he co-founded Maiden Name, a concept store operating at the intersection of art, design, and fashion based in New York City. The work presented here is from the Maiden Name Spring-Summer 2022 lookbook. Lê resides in New York City.

The Alice Austen House

The Alice Austen House occupies a singular position, both geographically and culturally—on the water’s edge of Staten Island’s North Shore. Once the home, studio, and muse of pioneering photographer Alice Austen, the house dates back to 1690 and is one of New York City’s historic homes. Yet it functions today not as a static historic site, but as a dynamic contemporary arts hub.

The museum celebrates queer and women’s history while breathing new life into Austen’s legacy by engaging with current artistic, social, and personal exploration. For Austen, this home, now a public park, was a radical retreat and safe haven for her and her largely queer circle of friends. That spirit of refuge and experimentation continues today. We activate the house and grounds through our Queer Ecologies Garden, deep community partnerships, and sustained support for artists, fostering the creation of new work that honors the past while speaking directly to the present.

The museum and public park have been a National LGBTQ+ landmark since 2017.