Photography – A Queer History

by Flora Dunster, Theo Gordon

From Robert Mapplethorpe to Deborah Bright, this is the essential guide to queer photography.

Photography - A Queer History  examines how photography has been used by artists to capture, create and expand the category 'Queer'. It bookmarks different thematic concerns central to queer photography, forging unexpected connections to showcase the diverse ways the medium has been used to fashion queer identities and communities.

How has photography advanced fights against LGBTQ+ discrimination? How have artists used photography to develop a queer aesthetic? How has the production and circulation of photography served to satisfy the queer desire for images, and created transnational solidarities?

Photography - A Queer History  includes the work of 84 artists. It spans different historical and national contexts, and through a mix of thematic essays and artist-centred texts brings young photographers into conversation with canonical images.

Genres: Photography, Queer, LGBT, Gay, Art

256 pages, Hardcover

Published May 7, 2024

Reviews

[David Ivany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic overview of queer photography, including a discussion of whether queer photography is a stable category, where the conventions and subjects of both queerness and photography are in flux. Highlighted a number of artists that I hadn't heard of, which I loved (but also thrilling to see Martine Gutierrez included).
Highly recommend it as an overview!

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Divided into categories to push the thesis that queer photography does not exist, these miniature portraits of photographers emphasize and push against that idea. It's a bit heady.