We hold a special place in our hearts for awkward prom photos -- especially those with curly updos, poofy dresses, uncomfortable engagement shoot-style poses and sweat marks. If we had a complaint, however, it would be the unrelenting heteronormativity of the genre. It's 2015. Can't queer couples also have the miserable pleasure of stiffly grinning before the camera with a tacky corsage?
Cue the work of photographer JJ Levine, who gives traditional prom photos a much appreciated queer twist. In his 2009 series "Switch," the trans artist creates photographic diptychs of what initially appear to be two separate prom date couples. Upon closer inspection, however, it becomes clear that both photos depict the same couple, though the "male" and "female" roles in the images are swapped.
The deliciously campy photos subvert the traditional studio photograph to remarkable effect; it's not easy to discern which photo is the "switch." "By staging the same models twice in these pairs of photographs, I don’t give any clues as to the subjects’ lived genders," Levine explained in an email to The Huffington Post, "therefore challenging the idea that gender is stable, consistent, or single."
Levine prefers not to use professional models as his subjects, but opts only for his friends and lovers, thus evoking a certain engagement that only comes with uneasy exposure. "Being photographed is a very vulnerable experience for most people," Levine told Original Plumbing. "If I were working with professional models, I would likely not experience the vulnerability that is present in people who are not accustomed to being photographed in a studio. I feel like my models’ immersion in the process, because of their relative inexperience, brings out a vulnerability that I seek to capture in my images."
In an earlier series, "Alone Time," Levine questioned the stable illusion of gender by featuring the same model twice in a single frame -- one time as a man, one time as a woman. Both series highlight gender nonconformity while emphasizing the importance of Levine's subjects, especially those that aren't often visualized in mainstream culture.
"I like the idea that portraiture confers importance on its subjects, and in photographing people who do not fit into the mainstream, or what are generally considered culturally valuable representations of bodies, genders, and sexualities, I'm suggesting that we are important," Levine concluded to Vice. "So in that sense, I would say that my work is not about gender non-conformity, but a desire to contribute to a visual culture that assigns value to people I identify with and care about, because they are fiercely beautiful and deeply valuable to me."
Fiercely beautiful they are, even with crimped hair and a cummerbund.
