Queer Lens

Queer Lens is a heavily illustrated history of how photography has shaped LGBTQ+ life, from the nineteenth century to today. The book starts from the idea that photography, with its ability to record reality or something close to it, has always been tied up with how identity is formed and expressed. Since the camera's invention in 1839, and even through eras of intense homophobia, people in LGBTQ+ communities have made and used photographs to build and affirm queer culture and identity in all its intersections. The book argues that this practice has been central to making queer people more visible.

The volume combines lively essays by scholars and artists with a wide selection of images. These include portraits of queer individuals, pictures documenting queer kinship, and documentary photographs of early queer groups and protests. The essays look at the many ways queer culture has shown itself, celebrating nuanced portrayals of people and relationships while pushing back against narrow definitions.