Ladies' Room, disposable camera photo, 4"x6", 2020
|
Everything has its place, disposable camera photo, 4"x6", 2020
"PACKING TIGHT ENDS SINCE 1989", disposable camera photo, 4"x6", 2020
|
Ghosts I saw, disposable camera photo, 4"x6", 2020
Disco ball, disposable camera photo, 4"x6", 2020
Untitled (Bones), cast concrete, varying dimensions, 2020
|
Pool cues 2, disposable camera photo, 4"x6", 2020
Mens' Room, disposable camera photo, 4"x6", 2020
|
This body of work was created at the beginning of the COVID-19 shutdown. These photographs of Lexington gay bar Crossings were taken using two disposable film cameras after hours. I embarked on my documentation of the bar specifically in an attempt to capture the euphoric magic of Karaoke night (which was every Tuesday), however what I found instead in these photos was an eerie calm, and through these photos I feel I unearthed a sacred quality about the space itself. Everyday fixtures of Crossings were given room to breathe with the bodies of patrons absent. Through my documentation I began to examine how these objects perform in a space void of presence. With the shutdown preventing bars from operating the images became especially poignant and serve as a rumination on the "what was" of queer nightlife. I believe queerness is magic and I hope that in these photos I evoke a feeling of spirituality, timelessness, otherworldliness, and sacredness.