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“Ropeswing,” photographed by Rory Mulligan, shows the form of a willowy adult climbing a tree to reach a rope swing. Though the model is obviously not a child, the black and white photo emulates a sense of playfulness and youth as the figure climbs with a dancer-like sense of delicacy.

The “Queer Moments: Selections From the Light Work Collection” exhibit highlights moments of LGBTQ history through photography as well as the contribution of LGBTQ artists to the Light Work Collection. The exhibit will be featured at Light Work until Oct. 14.

The Light Work Collection represents a 48-year legacy of supporting emerging and underrepresented artists and boasts an extensive, diverse archive that maps the trends and developments in contemporary photography. The collection contains mediums such as black and white prints, collages, artist books and portfolios, as well as publications.

“Queer Moments” is special because every artist involved has previously presented their work at Light Work at some point between 1992 and 2019.

Through the exhibit, Light Work serves as a visual resource for LBGTQ history. The photographers highlight inequalities within society and shed light on marginalized communities through photos, the exhibit’s website says.

One of those photographers, Rory Mulligan, is proud to be a part of this history, and shows his work through a lens of personal experience and identity.

“While I don’t necessarily make work that feels community driven or oriented, I do think of my work as existing in conversation with a larger, queer community of artists and humans,” Mulligan said.

Mulligan has made work before in Syracuse, coming back multiple times with the same model for photoshoots. He said his time in Syracuse was a formative experience for him.

As a queer photographer, Mulligan believes it’s important that Light Work is highlighting the work and legacy of queer artists that have participated in Light Work’s programs before.

“The artists and pieces in the show display the diversity of approaches and voices that exist within what is often considered a narrow subset of photography and art — that is queer,” Mulligan said.

Mulligan said the most educational element of the “Queer Moments” exhibit is its ability to educate an audience about this reality: that queerness can be expressed in many ways.

The 13 different artists in this show — including Samantha Box, Jess T. Dugan and Rory Mulligan — all use their different backgrounds within the LGBTQ community to visualize the intersection of queerness with the history of photography.

“Even with the criteria of everyone involved being both queer and an artist, I think there is such a range of experience, approach and execution being brought to the table in this show,” Mulligan said.

Victor Rivera, exhibitions and collection manager at Light Work, also believes the gallery’s mission is important and valuable. Rivera keeps collections organized and pulls prints for those who want to see the collection.

“The exhibit is part of Light Work’s mission to show artists that are underrepresented and marginalized and covers a wide range of topics like mortality, visibility and identity,” Rivera said.

Curators of the exhibit hope SU students will find kindred identities and understanding in the stories and photos from these artists.
Samantha Box, Bama, Omar and Devin, 2008

Ryan Krueger, Light Work’s digital services coordinator, was invited to independently curate the exhibit because of his interest in the vast amount of queer representation that was housed in the collection.

“Queer Moments” embodies a range of diverse genres in contemporary photography, and Krueger said he was extremely grateful for the experience and to further his knowledge on the history of photography and Light Work.

“Every single artist on the walls speaks volumes on what can be learned at the intersection of identity and representation while reflecting on what the responsibility is of a photographer,” Krueger said.

As curator, Krueger said he believes that showing “Queer Moments” at Syracuse University will empower students who identify with the LGBTQ community. Krueger believes the main goal of the exhibit is to reach students who need to see such representation during a developmental time in their lives.

“An exhibition like this can provide a lot of comfort and understanding to those coming of age who experience the lifestyle like many of those who are depicted in ‘Queer Moments,’” Krueger said.

Krueger said he hopes that those who don’t identify with the community still find empathy and understanding for the lifestyle members of the LGBTQ community live and fight for daily.

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this post, the photos were from the exhibit “We Used to Lie Together” instead of the photos from “Queer Moments: Selections From the Light Work Collection.” The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on September 30, 2021 at 12:25 am

Contact Katie: [email protected]