If years past are any indication, Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood will be packed to the gills on Sunday, June 26, as revelers gather for the 42nd annual Pride Parade. The parade wasn’t always the big event it is now. Early on participants shared the street with oncoming traffic and marched in front of a pretty sparse crowd.

Photographer Diane Alexander White first shot the parade in 1976. She’s captured the changing nature of the event in Gay Pride Parade Photography, Chicago Style 1976-2008. Her show is now on display at the Center on Halsted. The photos are from the 1976, 2003 and 2008 parades. Eight Forty-Eight’s Alison Cuddy caught up with White, who explained why she decided to focus on those three years.

Music Button: Dirty Vegas, “Emma”, from the CD Electric Love, (Om Records)