{"id":3774,"date":"2022-06-20T16:27:39","date_gmt":"2022-06-20T23:27:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stocksy.com\/ideas\/?p=3774"},"modified":"2023-04-03T11:10:46","modified_gmt":"2023-04-03T18:10:46","slug":"creating-lgbtq-photography-and-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stocksy.com\/ideas\/creating-lgbtq-photography-and-video\/","title":{"rendered":"7 tips for creating LGBTQ+ photography and video content"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Creators working in the stock media industry wield tremendous interpretive power over the subjects, themes, and narratives they explore in their work. Understanding this influence, they can construct more accessible spaces for their audiences and collaborators while developing aesthetics that accurately represent our world. Below are our 7 best practices for lens-based artists working with queer models both in and out of stock media applications.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n

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1. Develop your concept<\/h3>\n

Before picking up a camera, it\u2019s important to establish a clear concept for models in advance of the shoot. Concepting doesn\u2019t have to be complicated. A simple overview and consultation to explore a model’s relationship to your photographic offering before the session can help set up the shoot for success. This collaborative process allows them to share their experiences and further inform the creative concept.<\/p>\n

Within the concepting phase, it\u2019s particularly important to avoid framing shoot concepts within qualities and context clich\u00e9s. <\/p>\n\n \n \n <\/div>\n

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2. Quality Control<\/h3>\n

Qualities like flamboyance, promiscuity, and recklessness have been attributed to LGBTQ+ communities across time and used to vilify and subjugate specific members and sub-groups within the broader queer diaspora. Though many LGBTQ+ folks feel personally empowered by these traits, the stereotypes attached to them flatten their rich lived experiences and have become harmful fixtures for contextualizing queer culture on a global scale. The application of degrading stereotypes to queer themes in stock media upholds cis- & heteronormativity as the sole operative forms of sexual and gender identity, which dismantles universal rights to human self-determination. It can be challenging to find ways to transcend stereotypes in visual media<\/p>\n\n \n \n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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3. Context Awareness<\/h3>\n

Specific settings and events have also been the subject of clich\u00e9s and conflated with queerness in damaging ways. For example, we often see images of queer people dancing wildly in nightclubs. These settings have been associated with sexual promiscuity, predation, and drug use and attributed to the queer community at large. The cumulative effect of these associations has fused aesthetic queerness with villainy, suspicion, and malevolence. Similar to the ways some queer folks have reclaimed derogatory language for personal empowerment, queer communities depend on safe spaces like queer clubs, raves, and other settings in nightlife to celebrate, exchange, and grow their culture. When photographing queer individuals in environments that are subject to homophobic scrutiny, it\u2019s important to understand with whom the right to authorship belongs\u2014whose story is being told? Is it being told truthfully? Artists can recontextualize traditionally heteronormative settings to alter stereotypes and provide unique insights to complexities in identity. <\/p>\n\n \n \n <\/div>\n

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\n\n \n \"Young\n <\/a>\n \n
\n \n Lucas Ottone\n <\/a>
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4. Intersectional Awareness<\/h3>\n

Modern representations of queerness are nuanced, focusing on the universality of human experience, rather than using a set of default labels to portray whole communities of people. At Stocksy we\u2019re seeing a growth in demand for images of queer people in everyday scenarios and creatives are answering this demand by using unconventional concepts like spectrums, wavelengths, and refractions<\/a> to form more vibrant and expressive definitions of queerness. It\u2019s key to challenge labels and communicate deeper meanings about the intersection of identity and personal history in stock media.<\/p>\n\n \n \n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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5. Managing expectations and discomfort<\/h3>\n

Even the most experienced models feel tension in front of cameras from time to time. Regardless of experience, many variables shape a person\u2019s comfort level in photographic settings. Photographers can aim to structure sessions in such a way that it optimizes ease through the duration of the shoot. <\/p>\n

When working with models in-studio or on-location, there are a few simple offerings to enhance accessibility and comfort during the session.<\/p>\n\n \n \n <\/div>\n

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\n \n Nina Zivkovic\n <\/a>
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