Fire Island Pines,
Through Generations
& Polaroids

Sector Stories: Pride

David Morgan photograph, found in the Fire Island Pines Historical Society archives.

For Pride 2026, Sector Stories turns to the Fire Island Pines and the people who have shaped it across seven decades.

Working with photographer Andrew Tess, we’re gathering the portraits of the Pines across generations, and the stories that come with them.

It builds to a single night of conversation. On June 26, we bring those stories into the room and talk through the past, present, and future.

Andrew Tess

Andrew Tess is a New York photographer known for his Polaroids: instant portraits of celebrities and the city’s queer downtown, seen in Interview, PAPER, Dazed, and for MTV, Dior, and Spotify.

The medium and the Pines already share a history. Tom Bianchi’s Polaroids of the Pines, made between 1975 and 1983, remain some of the most enduring images the community has. Andrew picks up that thread, one frame at a time.

It All Comes
to SCHWET

On June 26, the work comes off the island and into Tribeca. SCHWET, a decadent bathhouse and members club, hosts the evening: a conversation and a viewing of everything Andrew uncovered, with select Polaroids enlarged and framed on the walls.

Andrew will be joined by a panel to talk through the stories behind the frames. The full panel will be revealed soon. A reception follows, in the bathhouse.

And yes, it’s a bathhouse. No, not that kind of night. Come in your best look and keep it on.