Photographic Alphabet: H is for Jamil Hellu
As a queer kid raised in Minnesota, Stevie Sokolouski found solace in playing the cello. Music and fashion were instrumental in the exploration of their queer identity from a young age. Stevie uses gender-neutral “they/them/their” pronouns © Jamil Hellu
Hues
Working primarily in photography through a hybrid approach of self-portraiture and portraiture, I invite members of the LGBTQ+ community to collaborate with me in developing a form of participatory representation that explores queer histories and cultural lineages. The series is defined by a collaborative method, in which the individuals I photograph are given a say not only in the making of the work but also in the construction of the narrative. During meetings with each participant, we discuss our ancestries, homophobia, emotional trauma, and the sense of belonging to a community. We further consider the ways our portrayals can express an evolving definition of pride and empowerment while resisting the growing intolerance of our political times.
By inserting myself into each photograph, I am invested in the conversation about what happens when the photographer leaves the space behind the camera to join his subjects in front of the lens, when the discussion about depictions of queer identity is no longer about the "other" but it is now about us. My presence also reflects aspects of my personal upbringing in a socially conservative environment dominated by strict Catholic moral values, where I often felt psychologically oppressed by public expressions of hyper-masculinity and by a lack of positive queer role models.
Taken as a whole, the series indicates how our histories connect us to a larger conversation about the complicated past we represent and the future we wish to create, while employing the photographic camera as a tool of empowerment and empathy.
Amber Field was born in Korea and adopted as a baby by a white American woman who worked in the US Foreign Service. "Raised on a horse farm in the Midwest, I face the wild ride of being queer and non-binary in these traditions and in the many other cultures I've lived." 2018 © Jamil Hellu
Aron Kantor is a Jewish man from Idaho. He bought these outfits from a retired drag queen who was selling her clothes on the corner of Steiner and Waller streets in San Francisco on a Sunday morning in 2017. © Jamil Hellu
Chase Conrad started playing sports when he was 6 years old. As an athlete from Pasadena, CA, he didn't have any gay role models growing up 2018 © Jamil Hellu
Justin Hall is an American cartoonist who grew up in Rhode Island. “I came into contact with Mexican lucha libre upon traveling to Latin America in my mid-20s back in the 1990s. I was immediately captivated by the masks, the sweaty intensity, and the extra layer of super-heroic elements.” 2017 © Jamil Hellu
Nick Wafle throws parties in Los Angeles and San Francisco, inspired by gay leather culture from the past. Each party is named after a leather bar or club that no longer exists. 2017 © Jamil Hellu
"When people think of America, they don't think of someone who looks like me," voiced Crystal Mason before putting the flag in her mouth. 2019 © Jamil Hellu
Marcela Pardo Ariza was born in Bogotá, Colombia. Coming from a catholic background, she left home at the age of 16 and lived in Indiana for 4 years. "Against all odds, I came out of the closet as a baby queer Latinx in the conservative Midwest. It was scary, visceral, and subversive," she says. 2018 © Jamil Hellu
"In Black America during my childhood, there were many euphemisms for gay men. We are sweet, like sugar and candy—taboo and desired," says Ramekon O'Arwisters, who grew up in North Carolina. "He's got sugar in his loafers," his father used to say. 2018 © Jamil Hellu
Ron Moultrie Saunders is originally from Jamaica, Queens. We are wearing female and male clothes that his mother brought from Senegal on her first trip to Africa in the 1980s. 2018 © Jamil Hellu
To see more of Jamil’s work, visit his website here
