Outcome E-Book

Tom Dingley

• Herausgeber: Arachne Press
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Seitenzahl: 55

Beschreibung

In 2014 Photographer Tom Dingley set up his #Outcome project - to photograph LGBT people with the attributes of their everyday life - their work, or their interests; and holding a picture of themself as a child. The message was, no matter how hard it is growing up, no matter who you were, you become who you become, and you are amazing. Two years and several exhibitions later, this is the Outcome. Portraits from all walks of life: Performers, Artists, Writers, Cooks, Bloggers, Campaigners, Politicians, Volunteers, Diplomats, Entrepreneurs, Journalists, Health Care professionals, Engineers, Pilots, athletes, Plant Hunters, Shamans, Teachers , Students... from a peer of the realm to the woman next door, this is a book about celebration, not celebrity. The exhibition and photographing continues, travelling around the UK as more people are added to the archive.

Leseprobe

OUTCOME

LGBT Portraits

Tom Dingley

First published in UK 2016 by Arachne Press

100 Grierson Road, London SE23 1NX

www.arachnepress.com

Outcome LGBT Portraits © 2016 Tom Dingley

Intoduction © 2016 Tom Dingley and Cherry Potts

ISBNs: print: 978-1-909208-26-1

ePub: 978-1-909208-27-8

mobi/kindle: 978-1-909208-34-6

Edited by Cherry Potts

The moral rights of the authors have been asserted

All biographical content is copyright the respective contributors

All images © 2016 Tom Dingley

All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form or binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Except for short passages for review purposes no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior written permission of Arachne Press.

Printed in the UK by Short Run Press Ltd, Exeter.

Many thanks to Muireann Grealy for proof reading. Any remaining mistakes are me not reading her comments carefully enough. CP

This book was funded with the assistance of (among others)

Arachne Friends: Alison Maggs.

Crowdfunders: Kevin and Elaine Carey, Jonathan Blake and many who wished to remain anonymous.

What lovely people!

Introduction

No matter how hard it is growing up, no matter who you were, you become who you become, and you are amazing.

Tom Dingley and Cherry Potts on the Outcome Project

Tom:

Outcome is a photographic project that showcases portraits of gay, lesbian, bi and transgender (LGBT) people from a variety of different professions and with a variety of different passions.

Each portrait includes a printed photograph, chosen by the participants, of themselves as a child, to demonstrate their growth from the child they once were, to the adult they became after their experience of coming out.

Outcome portraits celebrate the ‘outcome’ of growing up, coming out and living your life. There are myriad opportunities out there no matter who you are or where you have come from – there is no need for sexuality or gender to hold you back. Outcome also celebrates the diverse roles LGBT people fulfil, and so provide young LGBT people with role models for life beyond adolescent angst, uncertainty and bullying. The portraits show that LGBT people are represented in all aspects of everyday life. This helps challenge stereotypes and broadens people’s understanding of what LGBT people look like: there is no absolute definition.

The first photograph I took was of Gregory Gaige and this is the first portrait in the book. After that, I put out a call on social media for more subjects, and once I had enough pictures, I started exhibiting, firstly in group shows and eventually in solo shows at London Pride, Brighton Pride, Student Pride, Digital Pride and as part of Lewisham Council’s LGBT History Month celebrations in both 2015 and 2016. Gradually the project grew, attracting activists and role models, and people who just liked the idea – which is how you got involved.

Cherry:

I came across the call out, and got in touch. Even before I met you, there was a little thought burning away, that this could be a book. My photoshoot took forever because I kept asking you questions and making suggestions – people to contact, exhibition spaces to explore. I kept sending you emails with more ideas, because I thought this is was an important and valuable project, as well as being rather beautiful, and I wanted to help it spread wide and far, but I still wasn’t using the B word, worrying about the costs of colour printing as we’d only done black and white texts before.

Tom:

Exhibitions are bulky, time-consuming and short-lived. The online project is fine, but you do have to know to look for it.

Cherry:

And the best way I know to reach people is via a book. So I finally bit the bullet, and offered you a contract, but with a load of provisos, the crowdfund for instance, and I wanted a balance of male and female representation, including transgender people and a range of cultures, ages and (dis)abilities. I also said that whilst it was nice to have ‘names’ I thought it should be a book of celebration, not celebrity, and we should have as diverse a collection of professions and trades (or none!) as possible. The LGBT community live next door to you, they work with you. And here we are!

Getting There

Tom: The number of portraits built up gradually – with the help of popup studio days at different locations. All the shoots for Outcome were memorable, but some stand out more than others. For example, the time I escorted La Voix, in full drag, to my studio through a busy Greenwich before she performed at the Greenwich Street Party. Or Phil Ingud, the ‘boylesque’ performer, bringing his giant feather fans, and a pop-up studio day in Brighton and all the connections made from that – thanks to Lola Lasagne.

I have met so many role models and fellow equality campaigners along the way; it is such a rewarding experience. I am thankful for the opportunities and experiences: visiting bars, Pride events, people’s homes, offices and even Parliament, to get portraits done. Sometimes I’ve had a great set up, in a big space combining the studio with an exhibition as I did at Student Pride, but sometimes I’ve had to squeeze into very small spaces and using whatever lighting was available. I have a mobile studio – lights, background sheet and frame, tripod and camera – that just fits into a really big kit bag, which gets hauled on public transport all over London and beyond. I encourage people to bring the genuine tools of their trade (those feather fans!) but sometimes the crucial prop is spontaneous: Peter Tatchell’s portrait, for example, was finished off nicely with the addition of the megaphone, which just happened to be tucked into the corner of his room when the portrait was set up, or Tonnie Baakenist, photographed in Cherry’s house, settling down at the piano.