Speaking OUT

Queer Youth in Focus

Rachelle Lee Smith

• Publisher: PM Press
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781629630410
• eBook ISBN: 9781629630472
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Photography
• Index: Social Sciences

Speaking OUT: Queer Youth in Focus is a photographic essay that explores a wide spectrum of experiences told from the perspective of a diverse group of young people, ages fourteen to twenty-four, identifying as queer (i.e., lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning). Portraits are presented without judgment or stereotype by eliminating environmental influence with a stark white backdrop. This backdrop acts as a blank canvas, where each subject's personal thoughts are handwritten onto the final photographic print. With more than sixty-five portraits photographed over a period of ten years, Speaking OUT provides rare insight into the passions, confusions, prejudices, joys, and sorrows felt by queer youth.

Speaking OUT gives a voice to an underserved group of people that are seldom heard and often silenced. The collaboration of image and first-person narrative serves to provide an outlet, show support, create dialogue, and help those who struggle. It not only shows unity within the LGBTQ community, but also commonalities regardless of age, race, gender, and sexual orientation.

With recent media attention and the success of initiatives such as the It Gets Better Project, resources for queer youth have grown. Still, a void exists which Speaking OUT directly addresses: this book is for youth, by youth.

Speaking OUT is an award-winning, nationally and internationally shown and published body of work. These images have been published in magazines such as the Advocate, School Library Journal, Curve, Girlfriends, and Out, and showcased by the Human Rights Campaign, National Public Radio, Public Television, and the U.S. Department of Education. The work continues to show in galleries, universities, youth centers, and churches around the world.

SPEAKING OUT: Queer Youth in Focus

is a photographic essay that explores a wide spectrum of experiences told from the perspective of a diverse group of young people, ages fourteen to twenty-four, identifying as queer (i.e., lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning). Over a decade, I have worked both as artist and activist to use photographic portraits with the subjects’ own words to highlight the myriad differences and commonalities of queer identity.

Portraits are presented without judgment or stereotype by eliminating environmental influence with a stark white backdrop. This backdrop acts as a blank canvas, where each subject’s personal thoughts are handwritten onto the final photographic print. What makes this body of work so powerful is not only that each individual is given the spotlight and a chance to have a voice, but also the strength of the group as a whole.

Speaking OUT gives a voice to an underserved group of people that are seldom heard and often silenced. The collaboration of image and accompanying text serves to provide an outlet, show support, open minds, and help those who struggle. It not only shows unification within the LGBTQ community but also the commonalities across all borders regardless of age, race, gender, and sexual orientation.

Now, more than ever, these voices need to be heard.

I believe there is strength in numbers, power in words, and freedom in art, and I strive to raise awareness with this book.

“This collection of youth from all over the world is utterly moving as they show what it’s like to come into your own as part of a community that struggles with its own identity and place in society.”

Queerty

The physical development of Speaking OUT: Queer Youth in Focus has been a very rewarding, grassroots, hands-on process. Subjects were introduced to the project by word of mouth, notices at youth centers, and flyers distributed at schools. I started by photographing in my studio in Philadelphia, but as Speaking OUT expanded, I was able to photograph people all over the country and began shooting on location with a traveling set-up of cameras, film, lighting gear, and a nine-foot white backdrop.

The process goes like this:

First the subjects are photographed. We shoot as much or as little as is needed depending on the comfort level of “acting naturally” amidst a studio setting. I began shooting only with film, but have since incorporated digital as a backup. The images are made with a Hasselblad 501cm medium format camera. The negatives are 6x6cm square, and there are twelve frames per roll of film. The black square around each image is the border of the negative.

After the film is developed, I print a contact sheet in a darkroom with one of the last remaining Colex color processor...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Foreword
• Speaking OUT: Queer Youth in Focus
• Afterword