Here, Naturally is a photo series that illuminates LGBTQ+ lives in Iowa. Centering on 27 Iowans, the series represents people with wide-ranging queer, trans, and other identities. For all the photos, I asked the participants to pose how they felt most comfortable and to wear what best reflected their personalities. The result is a series of distinct individuals: a seamster lounges on the grass in his self-stitched dress, while a writer leans against a fallen tree in his favorite jumpsuit. Together, the series shows that LGBTQ+ people cannot be pinned down to any one color, size, race, style, gender, or culture.
For each participant, I made a trio of photos: a long shot, a face closeup, and a clothing closeup. In the face closeups, the participants confront the camera, returning the gaze that they often feel upon them as openly LGBTQ+ people. In the clothing closeups, I depict seemingly ordinary fabrics in abstract ways, reflecting queer individualities that are at once ordinary yet special.
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