This collection is a work-in-progress titled “Predatory”. After watching a certain 2022 film, I was confronted with the complicated relationship between joy in representation, and the question of if all representation is good representation. The film is beautiful, however, the intense main character could be described as a predatory lesbian.
Queer people have frequently been depicted as predators and villains in popular culture, and only in the last couple decades have we been shown in any kind of flattering or heartfelt light. After viewing the film, I had to question why the creators of the film chose to tell this story, and what my own relationship to the concept of the predatory queer looks like. After all, much of photography does rely on elements of voyeurism and perversion.
When my friends invited me to their home to shoot portraits of them, it was an act of vulnerability that resisted the predatory lesbian trope and the predatory nature of photography.
While taking the portraits, I encouraged the subjects to challenge the camera with tenderness.
