There is no other collection of photographs that so clearly visualizes this period in bathhouse culture. Many of the images contain nudity and frank erotic scenes, but they also capture men dressed in festive attire and the general life at the bathhouse. These candid images are remarkable because they document the life of the bathhouse with celebration and no apology.
An extraordinary, glimpse into the pre-AIDS gay sexual culture, 'The Fairoaks Baths' is an exhibit of Polaroids taken by Frank Melleno during the spring and summer of 1978 at the Fairoaks Hotel, a San Francisco bathhouse.