Sarah Mei Herman begann ihr Langzeitprojekt 2014 während einer Künstlerresidenz auf der chinesischen Küstenstadtinsel Xiamen. Anstatt sich auf kulturelle Unterschiede zu fokussieren, untersucht Sarah Mei Herman Aspekte, die universal anzuerkennen sind: die Bedeutung von Freundschaft und Liebe. Diese fortlaufende Serie porträtiert vier junge Frauen im Laufe der Zeit. Die Protagonist*innen sind miteinander befreundet, seit sie an derselben Universität studiert haben. Die Harmonie und Schönheit, die beim ersten Betrachten der Bilder ins Auge fallen, wirkt durchzogen von unterschwelliger Traurigkeit und verweist auf ein verborgenes und geheimes Universum der Weiblichkeit. In China ist es nicht mehr illegal, lesbisch zu sein, aber es wird von älteren Generationen immer noch nicht akzeptiert. Keine der Protagonist*innen von Sarah Mei Herman konnte offen mit ihren Eltern über ihre sexuellen Vorlieben sprechen. Seit 2014 ist Sarah Mei Herman mehrfach nach Xiamen zurückgekehrt, um die Veränderungen im Leben ihrer Protagonisten festzuhalten. Dieser langfristige Ansatz ermöglichte es der Künstlerin, intime Momente zwischen ihren Protagonist*innen, aber auch die Verbundenheit zwischen den Protagonist*innen und der Künstlerin selbst zu enthüllen. Drei der vier jungen Frauen sind in den letzten Jahren nach Europa gezogen. Die letzten Aufnahmen entstanden in den Niederlanden, wo die Künstlerin lebt und arbeitet.
»Together« is an evolving series of portraits. Guillets approach is both introspective and contemplative. With her work, the artist questions and criticizes the »sentimental norm«: traditional definitions of love relationships.
In this series of portraits, Camila Falcão researches gender and sexuality in an anti-patriarchal and collaborative approach. Her protagonists are members of a young non-binary community in Brazil. These Portraits are taken in home environments with natural light and always on eye level with both the protagnists and the audience. Camila Falcão shows a diverse range of queer people and bodies.
Joey Solomon’s influences are both academic and medical. As an openly gay man with mental disorders who has survived an internal pelvic tumor, his images advocate for invisible, internal highs and lows.
Meghan Marin describes her work Thinking of U (2020-present) as a „testament to the love and strength my queer friends give to me and our chosen families.“ Her portraits are simple and intimate, their authenticity and warmth are fueled by a collaborative approach.
In Audiovisual Cuir, Mia Vasquez documents the lives and experiences of LGBTQ+ people as well as her own state of being. She shows us „what it means to exist and live in the social climate of Dominican Republic: Filled with religious and traditional views but slowly seeing a destabilization of the cis-heteronormative binary.
The term »rose-tinted glasses« is often used to describe the perspective of people who see elements of the past as better and superior. Queer goggles are a whole different kind of »rose-tinted glasses.«
Sarah Mei Herman started this long-term project in 2014 during an artist residency on the Chinese coastal city island of Xiamen. Rather than focusing on cultural differences, Sarah Mei Herman explores aspects that are universally recognizable: the importance of friendship and love.
In a reduced aesthetic influenced by the new German photography, Sabrina Weniger lets us participate in a phase of her protagonist’s life. Through the collaborative approach, we feel Chieh’s calm determination to align the outer body with the inner body.
In her long term documentation, Shirin Bhandari makes friends with the Golden Gays, a group of elderly drag performers in Manila. Her intimate snapshot portraits and dressing room scenes initiate a visual and emotional understanding for the lives, relationships and community of her protagonists.
Simon Emond set out to meet queer communities living in remote areas far away from large cities. His grainy, blurred and almost abstract images illustrate a personal journey that leads in different directions at the same time: Outwards, inwards, into the dark and towards the light, up to the sky and down to earth.
Ziyu Wang questions the societal pressure on men to perform their masculinity. He skillfully accomplishes this through the staged visualization of expectations that his father has of him. In „Go get´em, boy!“ the audience takes on the role of the elders of the family to examine the images of manhood Ziyu Wang has created for his father.
