I am fascinated by the actual nature of gender and investigate how it relates to ideas surrounding self-representation. This prompted my, “One-Sex Models.”  In the project I attempted to find and photograph people who I felt were, to varying degrees, existing outside gender norms. I did not want every model to be completely androgynous but to have an element, through either physical structure, gaze or pose, of gender ambiguity; I wanted to blur the categories rather than create a new one. I chose to photograph each individual on a white background with a soft but revealing light to give a stark, yet glamorous aesthetic to the work in order to call attention to and explore the personal androgyny of the models. The title “One-Sex Models” was meant to reference the notion of gender as a continuum rather than a distinct categorization. ^[1] I found that by questioning the validity of gender I am also, and perhaps more effectively, addressing the validity of sexuality.

While working with ideas surrounding gender, a series I had created previously, titled “Iconoclast” began to receive some controversial press. ^[2] This was the result of some conservative activists objecting to my work being publicly placed at my undergraduate university. This caused them to photograph my work and appeal to several conservative media personalities. Lars Larson, a conservative radio talk show host, picked up the story. I was notified by some of my friends in Oregon and subsequently called The Lars Larson Show and was interviewed (see Appendix 1, "Interview Transcript"). After this I made my own appeal to the liberal press and was published in The Advocate and picked-up by other small Oregon-based newspapers. Through being in The Advocate, I was contacted by members of the Catholic gay community. This was around the time that Pope John Paul II died and Pope Benedict XVI was appointed. His appointment is the source of turmoil amongst gay Catholics, especially after the Church issued a new document on the church’s view on homosexuality. I could not resist making a documentary about being queer and Catholic in this turbulent time in the Catholic Church. While this seemed a departure from the work I was engaged in I felt compelled to make the documentary “A Place at the Table.”

Despite my connections I began to face a great deal of resistance from both the straight and gay Catholic community. The gay community was afraid they would face discrimination if they were part of the documentary and the straight community did not want the issue talked about. Fortunately, I had become friends with Brother Brian Halderman, a ‘religious’ in The Society of Mary (a sect of the Roman Catholic Church), who was one of the first openly gay people to enter religious life in the Catholic Church. He became the largest supporter of “A Place at the Table.” He put me in contact with many other gay Catholics, over fifty people in all, of which only seven allowed me to interview them. To gain more familiarity I began to be an active member of the gay Catholic community. I volunteered at Catholic booths at queer events, sang in the Catholic choir for the Sounds of Acceptance benefit, and attended Peace and Justice meetings (a gay friendly Catholic organization). By doing these activities I not only was able to meet more gay Catholics but gained firsthand knowledge of the discrimination gay Catholics have to endure, both from the queer community and within the Church. This helped me gain the proper perspective for the work... (continue reading)