Rink Foto has been photographing the LGBT community since 1969. Beginning with couples and portraits during the counter-culture era and working with Imogen Cunningham, Rink ventured into politics when he met Harvey Milk. Rink’s 1974 Gay Parade display in Harvey Milk’s Castro Camera windows was the first public display of same-sex couples. These same windows were broken in 1977 by homophobes angered by a similar display. Rink has worked with many historic activist groups over the years, such as the Gay Liberation Front, Bay Area Gay Liberation, Solidarity, AIDS Action Pledge, ACT UP, Queer Nation, GAPA, Aquilas, LGADDA, HRC, NGLTF, and the Harvey Milk LGBT and Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Clubs since their founding. Rink has presented and documented visuals of the LGBT community as a regular contributor to newspapers, magazines, and newsletters since the early '70s.

Theater events at Valencia Rose, Theatre Rhinoceros, Jon Sims Center, New Conservatory Theater, and Josie’s Cabaret are a part of his archive, as are parties, benefits, parades, leather, drag, transgender, intersex, people of color, bisexuals, youth, AIDS (since its emergence), women's health issues, and just about every aspect of the LGBT community is reflected in his images.

Rink covers 10-15 events a week, over 600 events a year, and his archive includes over 400,000 photographs and negatives, and hundreds of important items of memorabilia and artwork.