PUR·SUIT by NAIMA GREEN

 
For too many, a central part of the queer experience is growing up feeling isolated or lonely, feelings that are only amplified by the fact that there’s no one like you in magazines, TV shows, or art galleries. These experiences are especially acute for queer and gender non-conforming people of colour — but that’s just what artist Naima Green is determined to change, building a visual archive from her studio in Brooklyn, with Black queer womxn and non-binary people in the spotlight.

“When I’m taking a portrait of someone, I will ask if there is a way they would like to see themselves. Or if there’s a way that they want to be pictured that they haven’t been pictured as before,” she says. Her project Pur·suit is an embodiment of this collaborative and incredibly empathic approach. Its core elements are portraits of queer womxn, trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming people — striking poses or effortlessly relaxed; alone or with their loved ones and chosen families. Shooting her subjects against a backdrop of softly draped fabrics, Naima documents them in all their diverse beauty and excellence, shining a light on the people most marginalised within the LGBTQ+ community, and showing the potential to heal and uplift that coming together has.

 

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