The Orlando massacre at the Pulse nightclub deeply affected the LGBTQ community and brought home the complicated issues for gay people around the 2nd Amendment. Following the lead of the Pink Panther Patrol established in 1990, an alternative segment of the LGBTQ community responded by organizing support groups for gay gun owners. Grass roots Pink Pistols groups formed throughout America.
This photo series presents portraits of Pink Pistol members, LGBTQ gun owners in America covering a wide range of age, race, and gender and sexual identities. Since LGBTQ folks are traditionally liberal and stereotypically non-violent, I wanted to meet and find out more about the people who had taken up arms. I contacted Pink Pistol members on social media and started photographing LGBTQ gun owners in Los Angeles, LasVegas, Atlanta, Birmingham and Seattle.
These photographs represent my attempt to honestly “capture” the subjects, being careful not to let the guns overwhelm the compositions. My goal is to give insights into the individuals and their decision to bear arms through unbiased and non-judgmental portraits. I realize that images of firearms can be polarizing but a variety of emotional reactions and dialogue about this complicated subject is what I’m aiming for. I am most curious about what guns, a symbol of power and violence, mean to those who are disenfranchised in our culture.
AWARDS
2021
Lens Culture Critic Choice Award
Concealed: Portraits of LGBT Gun Owners
2019
Audience Choice Award International Pride Awards, Amsterdam, Holland
Concealed: Portraits of LGBT Gun Owners
2019
International Pride Awards, Amsterdam, Holland Special Projects Winner
Concealed: Portraits of LGBT Gun Owners
2018
American Photography AP34 Winner
Tara, Las Vegas, NV 2017 from Concealed: Portraits of LGBT Gun Owners
EXHIBITIONS
2020
Concealed: Portraits of LGBT Gun Owners 2017-2018 International Pride Awards, Sau Paulo, Brazil
2019
Concealed: Portraits of LGBT Gun Owners 2017-2018 International Pride Awards, Amsterdam, Holland
