February 21, 2013
David Rosenberg introduces us to Alix Smith’s photographic portraiture of LGBT families.
In Behold, his blog for Slate, photo editor David Rosenberg introduces readers to the six-year “States of Union” project of portrait photographer Alix Smith by asking “Is it more difficult to discriminate against someone when you’re forced to really see them?” He points out Smith is hoping that will be true as she continues her project of photographing gay families and showing the portraits in exhibitions. She told Rosenberg that she originally dreamed up the idea “as a way to show America who and what they were voting against” when they opposed the full legal recognition of loving families. But she is hoping to do more than educate straight people through her project. Smith told Rosenberg she also wants to provide support and encouragement to the LGBT community. She said: “By offering positive images of gay families in lasting relationships, I am offering gay kids a depiction of a future beyond what many may have imagined. The opportunity to see oneself—to have a visual representation of the possibility of what one might become—is a privilege long denied to the gay community.” Take some time to look through Smith’s beautiful family portraits, interspersed with text from Rosenberg’s interview with her.
