Gay Things and Where to Find Them
Open Access DepositedWith the recent uptick in positive queer representation, it feels like queer people are everywhere. It looks like society has accepted us, but anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments in the US are steadily rising. Media attention puts a spotlight on the community. The heightened visibility can be positive but raising awareness about queer and trans people’s existence also increases homophobia and transphobia. So, how can representation exist without the inevitable homophobic reaction? Opacity. Practicing opacity means accepting a non-mainstream group without insisting on understanding them. It means celebrating queerness without the pressure of conforming to social norms that dominant societal groups try to enforce.I started working on Gay things and where to find them to provide queer people with an outlet for opaque representation without any room for backlash. Through taking walks with queer friends and handing them a camera with the prompt, “What do you see that looks queer?”, I amassed a strange, seemingly unrelated collection of photographs that form a communal definition of queerness. They represented my collaborators’ identities without placing them in harm’s way. Hanging prints of this mishmash of photos for an audience asserts that representation does not have to be transparent to be appreciated and accepted.
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