iO Tillett Wright (TED Talk: Fifty shades of gay) is on a mission to point out that we’re all, at heart, the same. Sure, we might identify as male, female, straight, gay, trans-sexual … Some of us might be really into bowling or needlecraft while others are really into logic problems or computer coding. But however superficially different, the truth is we’re all human beings with more in common than not.
That’s why Wright is currently 5,519 portraits (and counting) into her latest project. Her goal: to photograph 10,000 people around the United States who identify as being something other than 100% heterosexual. “We are you,” she says. “The idea is to create an outlet not only for people within the LGBT community but to unify everyone in a statement of support for each other.” Here’s just a small sample of her work.
Portrait # 248
Jasmine, photographed in San Francisco.
Portrait # 252
Eddie, photographed in San Francisco.
Portrait # 258
Nita, photographed in San Francisco.
Portrait # 2,861
Brenda, photographed in Houston.
Portrait # 3,519
April, photographed in Amherst.
Portrait # 3,669
Mackenzie, photographed in Boston.
Portrait # 3,755
Canyon, photographed in Marquette.
Portrait # 3,758
Oscar, photographed in Marquette.
Portrait # 3,858
Dan, photographed in Salt Lake City.
Portrait # 4,021
Shaquia, photographed in Phoenix.
When she has all 10,000 portraits, Wright is off to Washington, DC, where she plans to exhibit all the photographs on the National Mall. To find out more about the project, see selfevidentproject.com. Below, see also a video she put together explaining more about the project and her thesis.
[ted id=1658]
[vimeo 94289600 w=500 h=281]
All images courtesy iO Tillett Wright.
