Nobody’s Darling
For the past three decades, lesbian bars in the U.S. have been on the decline from an estimated 200 at their peak in the ’80s. In 2020, it was reported that there were less than 20 lesbian bars remaining across the country, with projections that the number would drop further due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
My choice of subject comes from a place of love and is fueled by an impetuous desire to visibilize the livelihood of nightlife for queer and trans women. Despite no physical spaces existing for QT women of color and femme-of-center people in NYC, nightlife still thrives and we carve out spaces for ourselves and flock to one another because community is life and our joy depends on it.
I strive to capture queer delight and have made a concerted effort to make sure nothing gets in the way of that. I am particularly concerned with creating honest and authentic photographs, documenting the essence of nightlife for queer and trans women of color. I'm fascinated by how being with community brings out unadulterated levels of comfort, tenderness, sexuality, pleasure, captivity, connection, emotion. I use nightlife photography as a means of self-expression – I take pictures for myself, and to express my gratitude for the thriving queer life around me. In celebrating my community and making the effort to “put myself out there”, photography has allowed me to interact with people I would not have otherwise met, and to explore fragments and moments of queer life from fashion week after-parties to gay potluck and house warmings.
With this in mind, I invite viewers to be witness to a small slice of lesbian history in the 21st century. I hope that my images evoke a sense of nostalgia, glee, and freedom in the viewer, that one might feel the same excitement that I felt those nights and feel the spirit of queer determination that compels us to gather and choose to be seen despite the odds.
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About Patience
Patience is a Black Lesbian freelance photographer who is passionate about clinical psychology and social justice. She is based out of NYC by way of Houston, and shoots a range of genres from nightlife, to fashion and portraiture on both digital and 35mm film.
Presented by BKC & ASMP NY, The Bridge is a groundbreaking 16-week mentorship program for 18-26 year old emerging photographers and creative artists. To learn more about The Bridge, CLICK HERE.