Embodiment

I keep meaning to post about Molly Landreth’s series Embodiment: a Portrait of Queer Life in America, but I want to say something more articulate than “this is awesome”. Really though, it’s pretty awesome. You need to check it out.

There’s something special and intriguing that happens when people document their own community. It doesn’t mean that the photographs are automatically better –of course skill is still a crucial part of image-making– but having the ability to really understand and experience a  subject, to have the foresight and and background and history to know about the nuances, tensions, and issues below the surface, brings a significant advantage to the storytelling.

I looked all over for something I read once that Nan Goldin said, about how you can really only photograph your own people. I couldn’t find it (please comment if you know the quote I’m talking about), but the message is related. I don’t think photographers delve into identity politics very often, but having dedicated my education pre-photography to race, class, gender, and sexuality, I can’t help but notice the strength that exists in work that attempts to portray a community either from within, or as an effort to really, truly honor the subjects.

Images © Molly Landreth