The contribution of the queer community to photography has been essential in building diverse narratives and techniques. But, despite their immense achievement in the visual arts, their histories have been repeatedly overshadowed or erased. When one views an art form or its history, it becomes essential to view the medium in all these hues and colors, which means the inclusion of marginalized narratives. To ensure you gain a more diverse and sensitive perspective on photography, we have collated a list of some of the most engaging queer photo books created over the years. We highly recommend that you get your hands on some of the copies, which will certainly enrich your knowledge not just about the medium but also how important the queer community is to our society. For this article, my colleague, Lara Carretero, was extremely helpful in suggesting a wholesome list of queer photo books.
The lead image and pictures within the article are screenshots Amazon’s website. The Phoblographer may receive affiliate compensation for products purchased using links in this blog post.
Table of Contents
Eye to Eye by JEB
Known as the first photo book created on lesbians, Eye to Eye is one of the most romantic queer photo books. What makes it special is that Joan E. Brien (JEB) belongs to the community and is a lesbian herself. The publication was conceptualized when JEB realized that she saw only one image of a lesbian couple, and that was a selfie she took with her partner, where the two were kissing. To fill the vid, she embarked on a journey to create a book, which includes photographs of couples, activists, friends, and lovers. Eye to Eye, thus, is an eight-year-long documentation of the hundreds of lesbians and their rich and complex lives.
You can purchase the book here.
Trans New York, by Peter Bussian and Abby Chava Stein
Considered a landmark queer photo book, Trans New York sheds light on the lives of 50 trans, genderqueer, or gender nonbinary individuals. The publication depicts photographs, which were captured in iconic places in the city, along with interviews on gender identity, spectrum, and expectations. The book aims to fight against misconceptions and stereotypes while portraying the beauty, resilience, and compassion of the trans community.
Self Evident Truths, 10,000 portraits of queer America by iO Tillet Wright
Photographer iO Tillett Wright took on an impossible task to capture 10,000 portraits of people who do not identify as stright or cisgrender. The photographer travelled to all 50 states of the country, to capture the portraits that depict people of varied race, gender, ethnicity, age, socioeconomic status, and more. While some of the peiple are well-known, others are strangers, who may remind you of you a friend, relative, or your mail carrier. Its one of those queer photo books that aims to break down stereotypes to reveal the complex and diverse individuals who are on beyond the spectrum society has put into.
You can purchase the book here.
Ren Hang, Edited by Dian Hanson
Ren Heng was a shy revolutionary who became a controversial figure in his native town but immensely popular around the world. The book, which has been edited by Dian Hanson after the photographer’s tragic suicide in 2017, defines how Ren was. The book depicts the human body through graphic visuals. His friends, often naked, were seen on the rooftops of Beijing, China, with body holes sprouting flowers, as well as limbs covered in octopuses. For this reason, the book can be considered forbidden by some cultures and traditions. However, Ren has clarified his intentions were not to sexualize the human body but rather portray it in varied facets, without any restrictions.
You can purchase the book here.
Polaroids by Robert Mapplethorpe
Robert Mapplethorpe was a popular figure in the queer community thanks to his immersive black-and-white photographs. This is one of those queer photo books that you would like to go back to over and over. The publication contains 300 Polaroid photographs, which were created during the early years of Mapplethorpe’s career, largely between 1970 to 1975. Through his instant photographs, Mapplethorpe goes on to explore various themes, that were also seen in his later works: gender, sexuality, and religion. Polaroid is a book that includes self-portraits, human figure studies, still lives, and images of friends and partners such as Patti Smith, Sam Wagstaff, and Marianne Faithful.
You can purchase the book here.
Same Same but Different by Anna Fux
This is a self-published photo book, which went on to win the best photo book of the year award by PhotoEspaña. The publication charts the what it means to be queer, through the lived experiences of Anna, and her gay uncle, over two different generations and locations. “Fourty years have gone by, and my experiences are quite similar to the ones my gay Filipino uncle lived. What we understand as ‘the past’ is very much still contemporary and in so many ways a window to understanding what we are going through today,” Anna told us in an interview.
You can puchase the book here.
I Can Make You Feel Good by Tyler Mitchell
This is the first monologue by Tyler Mitchell and expands on his US solo exhibition at ICP in New York. What sets this queer photo book apart is that the photographer portrays a serene Black utopia. The idea came to him when Tyler, who was on Tumblr, rarely saw photographs of Black people where they truly appear free. The photo book depicts the varied shades of what Blackness and their bliss would look like if the world was not so harsh on people of color.
You can purchase the book here.
The Other Side by Nan Goldin
Nan Goldin is an exceptional documentary photographer who has given us the iconic photo book The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, which gives us a close glimpse into the lives of her and her friends. The Other Side, in that regard, is no different. This queer photo book depicts the vibrance of a drag scene in Boston and the lives of her transgender friends. But it doesn’t end there. Nan goes around the world to depict the intimate lives of drag queens, as well as their onstage person. Overall, this publication is the photographer’s tribute to the trans community, many of whom died over the years.
You can purchase the book here.
George Platt Lynes: Photographs 1931–1955, Jack Woody
George Platt Lynes is one the most iconic figures of 20th-century photography, with his works even impacting other renowned photographers such as Robert Mapplethorpe and Herb Ritts. Also the first open queer photographer in the industry at that time, this monograph is his first book, which eventually earned the praise of The New York Times. From 1930 to 1955, the year when the photographer passed away, a major chunk of his work was focused on male nudes, where Lynes’s exceptional use of light and cropped images depicted the beauty of the nude form. The book was published by Jack Woody, a rather elusive figure in the publishing world.
We Were Here: Sexuality, Photography, and Cultural Difference by Sunil Gupta
Sunil Gupta is one of the most influential figures in the queer and the art world. We Were Here: Sexuality, Photography, and Cultural Difference is one of those queer photo books that includes newspaper articles, speeches, and essays, highlighting queer migration and self-discovery. The book also includes write-ups about homosexuality in India, the issue with AIDs and societal shunning one faces, as well as the Black Arts movement. We Were Here includes queer photographers such as Joy Gregory and Robert Mapplethorpe, and on the whole, aims to offer varied ways to resist oppression, to create a space for love and life.
You can purchase the book here.
To Survive on This Shore, by Jess T Dugan and Vanessa Fabre
To Survive on This Shore is a fabulous queer photo book that highlights the often underrepresented older transgender individuals. Photographer photographer Jess T. Dugan and social worker Vanessa Fabbre traveled across the US to document these older individuals, who stand at a complex junction of gender, race, class, sexuality, ethnicity, and more. The book is an important record of the challenges and happiness of growing older as a trans person and what it means to survive when the odds have been stacked against them.
You can purchase the book here.
We Deserve This, by Victoria Scott
In this book, trans journalist Victoria highlights the intersection of her identity, cars, fashion, and feminism. The images were shot acorss four states, over two years, and depict the spectrum of transfeminine life in 2020s America. The pictures includes trans women, cars, locales, and of course, fashion. Overall, We Deserve This is a book that love letter to what it means to be trans in this age.
You can purchase it here.