i love "gayface," an ongoing photo series from ashley kolonder. she photographs people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (lgbtq) -- once with their eyes closed, and again looking directly at the camera. the series is a good reminder that perception, and the assumptions we make based on it, is a very powerful thing.
"as a gay woman + an artist, i felt it was of the utmost importance to give the lgbtq community a platform to express their voice + their truth," ashley told me. "i want to show the many faces of this community, the diversity + the strength it takes to be who they are each day. the lgbtq community are not second class citizens in this great nation, and they deserve the same rights as everyone else."
"i thought that there would be a few humans who were into the project + that it was going to be more a project that was meaningful to me + a few, but it has seemed to touch more humans than i thought + i love it!
as i continue, i have plans to cover the u.s. + eventually travel internationally. so far i've traveled to dc, nyc + boston. in the next two months, i'll be going to chicago, ithaca new york, new jersey + all down the california coast. in august, i'm planning on launching a kickstartr campaign for GAYFACE 1st Class, to raise money for myself + a crew to cover 30 more u.s. states.
the photographs are just the first part of this project. once that's complete, there will be gallery shows, projections of these photographs on buildings + landmarks, street art, and a book produced with all comments and stories shared from the photographed subjects' experiences. i've put together a film crew that has been + will continue to document the whole process in hopes to put together a documentary by the end of our first road trip."
find ashley on pinterest, facebook + her website.
*all images used with permission. this is NOT a sponsored post.
