Photo Exhibit Shows Gays And Lesbians Have Family Values Too
Mar. 5 2010, Published 11:47 a.m. ET
A 31-year-old photographer is out to prove that gays and lesbians have as many family values as anyone else.
New Yorker Alix Smith has created a photography exhibit called “States of Union.”
She makes what she calls “conceptual portraits,” where she picks a scene from a classic painting and replaces the subjects with gays and lesbians and their families.
Her images have a painter-like quality reminiscent of artists such as Vermeer, Manet and Sargent.
The pictures are beautiful in their elegance and representation of traditional values with non-traditional families.
Alix created this project because it’s “important to have role models to show that we’re not different.”
And, she is living her truth. Alix has been in a same sex marriage for 1 1/2 years.
Her partner joins her on her shoots. Even though her wife is a psychotherapist, she helps Alix with the positioning of her real life models. And, she also is a good time keeper—keeping the chatty and friendly Alix on schedule.
On Thursday, the couple had four different photo sessions all around Los Angeles and West Hollywood. Alix says “it’s so easy working with people in LA, because many of them work in the industry and are available different times of day.”
She was amused when one of her subjects, a TV producer, said “Should I cheat to the camera?” asking if he should move his face in a position where it’s more visible to the camera. Two hours and 300 pictures later, hopefully the right angle was found.