For more information:
Dr. Betty Sullivan
Good Vibrations Press Contact
(415) 503-1375
bettys@goodvibes.com

Duane Cramer’s “Light + Dark : Tones of Sensuality”
Photography Exhibit at Good Vibrations Gallery

Opening Reception - Thursday, June 21st

Click to download a high res image. Images by Duane Cramer for publicity use only.

SAN FRANCISCO – (June 12, 2007): Good Vibrations, the legendary Bay Area company that takes pride in providing educational materials and accurate information on sexuality and toys for grown-ups, welcomes photographer Duane Cramer’s new exhibit “Light + Dark : Tones of Sensuality” to The Gallery at its Polk Street store, 1620 Polk at Sacramento. The exhibit is an Official Event of San Francisco Pride 2007.

The “Light + Dark” Opening Reception, sponsored by Good Vibrations, will be held on Thursday, June 21st, 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM, and will include entertainment and a selection of wine and cheeses. Models appearing in featured nude photographs will be on hand, along with invited community leaders and Good Vibrations highly touted customer service representatives and company executives.

“We are very excited to showcase this new collection of Duane Cramer’s award-winning work during Pride Month this year,” said Theresa Sparks, Good Vibrations president and CEO. “The compelling images Duane creates are both stunning in their beauty and gripping in their capacity to comment visually on the people photographed and the backdrop surroundings in which they find themselves. The human diversity represented in Cramer’s selection is remarkable and in keeping with our company’s commitment to welcoming those from many walks of life, backgrounds and ethnicities.”

The “Light + Dark” installation will be open and free of charge to attend from Sunday, June 17th through Sunday, July 15th as a key activity among those planned and hosted by Good Vibrations for Pride 2007 in San Francisco and in the Boston area.

Opening for the first time since its inception, the new exhibit will also include a collection of written interpretations of Cramer’s work, to be unveiled at the opening reception, by award-winning authors and artists. Contributors include Marvin K. White, E. Lynn Harris, Keith Boykin, Thomas Simpson, Jewelle Gomez, Stacy Jackson and Carol Queen, PhD.

Accompanying the mounted photographs featured in the exhibit will be a multi-media representation of Cramer’s work, and a new original photograph created especially for this show. The new image is of two nationally known PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) parents, Sam and Julia Thoron. Sam Thoron is former national president of the organization, and his wife Julia Thoron is also known in the Bay Area and throughout the US for her activism and leadership as chair of San Francisco PFLAG Chapter.

“The ‘Light + Dark’ exhibit includes many nude shots exemplifying the diversity of Humankind with a particular focus on the LGBT community,” said Dr. Betty L. Sullivan, Good Vibrations curator for the exhibit. “Cramer decided to expand the diversity by including the new original shot of the PFLAG parents as they are an iconic straight couple who represent the throngs of supportive friends and family members.”

A new episode of GVTV, Good Vibrations video “shorts” programming, will feature Cramer, interviewed by Carol Queen, PhD, discussing his experience as an artist, his purpose and his vision.

Good Vibrations will offer a 10% discount to attendees during the reception and will donate 10% of event sales to the Black AIDS Institute.

About Photographer Duane Cramer
Best known for his celebrity portraits, Cramer’s portfolio features diverse stars from politicians to pop icons, and actors to activists. He has photographed President Bill Clinton, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Mayor Willie Brown, RuPaul, Brooke Shields, Reichen and more luminaries. Cramer’s work has appeared in publications, including The Advocate, OUT, Harper’s Bazaar and Blue.

As an active member of the local gay community, Cramer has served as a volunteer and leader of the LGBT Center, Frameline, NAMES Project Foundation AIDS Memorial Quilt and the Black AIDS Institute. His previous exhibit “Elegant” opened in Chicago, coinciding with the 2006 Gay Games. More information is available at the website: www.duanecramer.com.

About Good Vibrations
Good Vibrations is the San Francisco-based retailer trusted for three decades to provide a comfortable, safe environment for finding sex-positive products and educational materials to enhance one’s sex life. Good Vibrations offers its products through its retail stores, mail order catalog and its ecommerce website at www.goodvibes.com.

For more information, contact Dr. Betty Sullivan at (415) 503-1375 or bettys@goodvibes.com.

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