{"id":24898,"date":"2024-01-24T09:00:08","date_gmt":"2024-01-24T17:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=24898"},"modified":"2024-01-22T09:25:59","modified_gmt":"2024-01-22T17:25:59","slug":"exhibit-gives-modern-take-on-queer-and-bipoc-portraiture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2024\/01\/24\/exhibit-gives-modern-take-on-queer-and-bipoc-portraiture\/","title":{"rendered":"Exhibit gives modern take on queer and BIPOC portraiture"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Why do we take portraits of people? For hundreds of years, much of the function was to preserve someone\u2019s image, flaunt wealth, or, among upper classes, advertise yourself for marriage to long-distance suitors. Other times, it\u2019s to record history or shine light on a certain type of person or way of life. Today, selfies, video calls, and Instagram posts serve a lot of the same function, but still we make portraits. Why?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Kali Spitzer\u2019s portrait series <i>Bodies of, Bodies Within<\/i>, currently being shown at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (AGGV), shines a light on some modern reasons we might still take portraits. Focusing on BIPOC, queer, and trans bodies, Spitzer uses one of the oldest forms of photography we have to show the beauty and spirit of those who are often overlooked for more formal portraits.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_24899\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-24899\" style=\"width: 241px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/KaliSpitzer-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-24899\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/KaliSpitzer-241x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"241\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/KaliSpitzer-241x300.jpg 241w, https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/KaliSpitzer-562x700.jpg 562w, https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/KaliSpitzer-768x956.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/KaliSpitzer-1233x1536.jpg 1233w, https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/KaliSpitzer-1644x2048.jpg 1644w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 241px) 100vw, 241px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-24899\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An example of a portrait in Kali Spitzer\u2019s <em>Bodies of, Bodies Within<\/em> (photo provided by the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The method is called tintype, and it\u2019s almost as old as the concept of photography itself. Dating back to before the American Civil War, it was primarily used for the exact types of portraits Spitzer is capturing. With so many digital and film options available today, Spitzer\u2019s choice to use a more traditional process is meaningful to the message. Since we typically associate older photographs with historical importance, Spitzer\u2019s methodology is incorporating marginalized people into that history. In doing so, she\u2019s also noting the importance of recording these communities as part of our collective history.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>This is especially important considering that our history books have been all too eager to ignore and disregard Spitzer\u2019s own community.<\/p>\n<p>Coming from the Kaska Dena nation of northern BC on her father\u2019s side and a Jewish Transylvanian tradition on her mother\u2019s side, Spitzer is intimately familiar with the ways in which a people\u2019s history can be swept away. Their struggles, triumphs, joys, values, and unique beauty can all be destroyed in favour of a narrative that better suits people in power. Because of this, many people seem to think that queerness or the empowerment of racialized people is a recent trend\u2014this isn\u2019t the case.<\/p>\n<p>By using historic forms of photography, Spitzer is reincorporating queer, trans, and BIPOC people into a narrative that they\u2019ve always been present in but were excluded from the record of.<\/p>\n<p>Spitzer isn\u2019t only changing who we take photos of\u2014she also hopes to challenge the conventions of portraiture itself. Much of our modern practice comes from visual techniques which were developed by a very small group of people who were almost exclusively able-bodied white men. The camera, a stand-in for the artist\u2019s own visual perspective, forces the audience into seeing the way the photographer sees the world. When the camera is then passed to someone who sees the world differently, you\u2019re offered a new perspective when seeing through their eyes.<\/p>\n<p>In <i>Bodies of, Bodies Within<\/i>, Spitzer shows us how she views her community. Beautiful, but on its own terms. Beauty, in this case, is not defined by the rigid guidelines of advertising, but rather in authenticity, diversity, and the owning of one\u2019s culture. Ever present throughout time, across cultures, and worth documenting.<\/p>\n<p>As a queer person, this work meant a lot to me. Seeing these bodies on their own terms felt powerful, and Spitzer\u2019s photographic perspective is one full of love and respect. AGGV is on the right track, as it continues to uplift artists who explore and share perspectives which have, historically, been excluded from these spaces.<\/p>\n<p><i>Bodies of, Bodies Within<br \/>\n<\/i>Until Sunday, March 17<br \/>\nArt Gallery of Greater Victoria<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aggv.ca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">aggv.ca<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why do we take portraits of people? For hundreds of years, much of the function was to preserve someone\u2019s image, flaunt wealth, or, among upper classes, advertise yourself for marriage to long-distance suitors. Other times, it\u2019s to record history or shine light on a certain type of person or way of life. Today, selfies, video [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24899,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,303],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-january-24-2024"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24898"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24900,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24898\/revisions\/24900"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}