12/05/2022
By binternet
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10 Queer Models Tell Us What Pride Means To Them In 2021<

After 18 months of a pandemic, a new civil rights movement and several phases of confinement, Pride month not only marks an important time to pause and celebrate the progress of the LGBTQ+ community after an unprecedented year , but also a long-awaited recognition of the queer families at its heart. Few understand this better than Tijuana, Mexico-born, New York-based photographer Rafael Martínez, whose images of young gay men in Baja California offer piercing insight into the challenges and triumphs of a community under constant threat. .

"I feel responsible for my community and how I portray it. Ultimately, I want to release work to the world that reflects who I am and where I come from." During this month of pride, therefore, Rafael Martínez has decided to turn his lens towards his immediate environment: New York. And more specifically, to a number of up-and-coming queer models – some acquaintances or friends of friends, others discovered on Instagram – who he believes define what queer representation should look like in the fashion in 2021. "I always think about representation in my work, and they are the faces of the present and the future for me", adds the photographer.

Loosely inspired by Juergen Teller's iconic Go-Sees series - a book of off-duty model portraits between castings in Paris, originally published in 1999 - Rafael Martínez's portraits capture a new generation with the same spontaneous energy and casual. “I wanted the photos to be really honest and natural,” says Mr. Martínez, who shot most of the images on a warm spring day in his Brooklyn backyard. “I wanted to respect their time and make them feel at home. comfortable during the shoot. So we would chat, take a picture, go for a walk in the park a few times, take another picture. It was all about connection”.

10 mannequins queer nous dévoilent ce que signifie la “Pride” pour eux en 2021

As the images of Rafael Martínez and the quotes from the models that populate them prove, Pride Month may only come once a year, but for the LGBTQ+ community, the “joy of connection” is something that extends far beyond this increasingly mundane celebration. Here are, in pictures, 10 new faces of the queer scene who reveal to us what “Pride” means to them in 2021.