Queer photography portraiture has been a powerful medium for exploring identity, visibility, and resistance. Through their work, queer photographers have challenged traditional notions of gender and sexuality while fostering a sense of community.
For LGBTQ History Month, the Socially Engaged Art Salon (SEAS) is staged at Colonnade House, the exhibition “In Your Face – Queer Photography Now” by thirty-five local and international photographers.
The exhibition was informed by three books published recently in the UK on these subjects.
In “Photography—A Queer History,” authors Flora Dunster and Theo Gordon explore how photographers have utilised the camera to subvert traditional representations, highlighting the fluidity of identity.
Åsa Johannesson’s project, “The Queering of Photography,” initiated in 2015, interrogates norms connected to photographic portraiture, questioning what qualifies as a ‘good’ portrait. Her collaborative approach emphasises the subversive potential of queer representation.
The Victoria & Albert Museum’s publication, “Calling the Shots: A Queer History of Photography,” offers an unprecedented view of photographic history through a queer lens, drawing on one of the oldest and largest photography collections in the world.
These works and the photographs in the exhibition “In Your Face” collectively illuminate the diversity and resilience of queer experiences, demonstrating how photography serves as both an art form and a means of activism, challenging societal perceptions and advocating for the recognition and rights of marginalised communities.
Curator: Gil Mualem-Doron
Participating artists: Anna Warin / Antony Edwards / Audrian Cassanelli / Claudio Pestana / El Colman / Emily Gray / Francesca Alaimo / Gil Maulem-Doron / Gugulethu Ndlalani / JC Candanedo / Jo Faithfull / Jiayi Chen / Kevin Prince / Lou Liska / Ludo Foster / Matheus de Simone / Pierre Monnerville / Rob Burton / Sharon Kilgannon / Simon Pepper / Suzie Pinder [aka The Naked Artist] / Soham Joshi / Suzie Silk / Tango
Join us at Colonnade House for a creative session where you can bring your inner demons to life through mask-making. This hands-on workshop led by the talented Mandy Sweats will guide you in exploring your emotions and expressing them artistically. Unleash your creativity and dive deep into your psyche as you craft a unique mask representing your innermost thoughts and feelings. Let’s embrace our demons together in this one-of-a-kind event!
The event is free, but please book to let us know you’re joining us.
Open to all. Children under 16 need to be accompanied by an adult.
Book here.
Open Tuesday 18 February – Saturday 1 March // 10.00 – 17.00 (Closed Sunday 23 & Monday 24 February)