Queer Intimacies is an ongoing portrait project originated in the fall of 2020 as a means of connection with and in celebration of my Bay Area queer community.
The project explores the intersection between the queer experience and the vulnerability of portraiture. Being an avid people watcher and growing up a closeted queer, I have always been overly aware of how people present themselves. They can act, perform, deflect, put forward what they think someone wants or just be. That last one is what my portrait work is after. To me that is beauty and tough to get to. That ask also brings up many topics close to queer subjects’ hearts. I find much of the work is done in the conversations leading up to the shoot exploring each person’s relationship to being viewed and their own queerness. My hope is for the subject to walk away with some growth and the viewer with some stillness, beauty, and a peak into the power and identity of queerness. The subjects range from friends and strangers to dominatrixes, artists, DJs and drag queens.
