Pride Week: Photographer Jerry Pritikin, ‘When Then Was … NOW!’

Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 18, 2023 - 3:32pm

CHICAGO – Locally, Jerry Pritikin was known as the Chicago Cubs “Bleacher Preacher.” But Jerry had a more important role in his life … as a photographer who captured 1970s gay liberation in San Francisco, including gay activist icon Harvey Milk. His new exhibit is “When Then Was … NOW!” For more info, click Jerry Pritikin.

Photographer Jerry Pritikin, Now and Then (Photo with Harvey Milk)
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com

The exhibit is at the new Chicago Center for Photojournalism, founded by photographer Denise Keim, and is in place during Pride Month. When Then Was…NOW! highlights a marriage of sorts between San Francisco and Chicago, to celebrate the life and legacy of Jerry Pritikin, a historic photojournalist and baseball fan legend.

The exhibition puts a spotlight on the photographer’s dedication to the LGBTQ+ community and his love for baseball as an ultimate Cubs Fan, legendarily known as the Bleacher Preacher. His photo collection showcases the the spirit of the early gay rights movement … the 86-year-old Pritikin first moved to San Francisco in 1960 … during the Harvey Milk era, and also memorabilia in Jerry’s role as the Bleacher Preacher, named by Cub’s announcer Harry Caray as the team’s number one fan.

The Chicago Center for Photojournalism opened this year in Chicago’s Uptown Neighborhood, through founder and photojournalist Denise Keim. As a veteran 30 year professional and educator, her passion for photography have taken her around the world, and her photographs have been published in numerous books and periodicals, as well as exhibited both in the United States and internationally.

’Bleacher Preacher’ Jerry Pritikin, Photo by Denise Keim
Photo credit: © Denise Keim

In the following video essay and interview, Jerry Pritikin goes over the times of Harvey Milk through his photographs, including Milk’s assassination and the subsequent “White Night” riots (associated with the lenient sentencing of the assassin, City Supervisor Dan White) …

Harvey Milk Swearing In Ceremony (January 8th, 1978), Milk Assassination (November 27th, 1978), “White Night” Riots (May 21st , 1979) …

”When Then Was … NOW!” is an exhibit of the photos and memorabilia of Jerry Pritikin on display at the Chicago Center for Photojournalism, 1226 West Wilson Avenue, Chicago. For more information about the Center, click ChicagoCenterForPhotojournalism.com.