Disidentifications

“No Femmes. No Fats.” When I started making profiles on gay dating/hookup apps as a teenager, this is a phrase I came across frequently, which set precedent that defined me as unwelcome. As a queer person with a non-normative body and an invisible disability, I have experienced constant rejection from members of my fellow gay community, forcing me into a precarious relationship with myself.

Disidentifications is a series of absurd, unusual, uncanny, and playful portraits of queer individuals. Named after the theory of disidentification as described by queer theorist José Muñoz, this series examines the liminality of disidentities that neither identify or counter-identify with a dominant ideology. The playful and performative acts and symbols in these photographs reflect the uneasy relationship I’ve developed with myself, while the fragmented narratives and uncertainty that exist in a space between reality and fantasy reflect the transitional space of queer identity.