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{"id":181967,"date":"2023-01-01T19:45:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-02T00:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esse.ca\/?p=181967"},"modified":"2025-10-14T08:33:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T13:33:19","slug":"whose-family-portrait","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/whose-family-portrait\/","title":{"rendered":"Whose Family Portrait?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From these moments of familial memory, we might attempt to fill in the gaps to complete a story of which a picture can only show a piece. Writing about family photographs as objects of display, the feminist scholar Sara Ahmed notes, \u201cWe need to ask what gets put aside, or put to one side, in the telling of the family story.\u201d1<\/sup><\/a><\/span> 1 <\/a> - Sara Ahmed, \u201cSexual Orientation,\u201d in Queer Phenomenology: Orientations, Objects, Others <\/em>(Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2006), 90.<\/span> In other words, although photographs representing families are omnipresent in visual culture, the range portrayed is generally limited to so-called traditional families. This limitation can encourage a series of reflections about alternative perspectives on representations of family structures. Given that the genre of family portraiture is so often discussed within the history of amateur and professional photography, the concept of family\u200a\u2014\u200awhat it is commonly defined by and what it has the potential to be\u200a\u2014\u200anaturally intrigues numerous queer artists, including JJ Levine, Jamie Diamond, and Naima Green. Using the family portrait as a foundation in their respective lens-based practices, Levine, Diamond, and Green expand upon the traditional classifications of \u201cfamily\u201d to portray the multitude of family structures that exist in queer communities. Not only does their work exceed the limitations inherent to conventional photographic practices, but they also contribute to the countless definitions of family in order to reveal the promises for queer familial futures. Both Levine and Green stand in support of their fellow LGBTQIA2S+ communities while representing them as authentically as possible, whereas Diamond\u2019s practice subverts the normative understanding of a family unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Montr\u00e9al-based artist JJ Levine portrays his own friends and family as subjects in his photographs to highlight the significance of chosen families in queer kinship. Recently on view at the McCord Museum in Montr\u00e9al, the exhibition Queer Photographs<\/em> (2022) depicted three bodies of work\u200a\u2014\u200aQueer Portraits<\/em> (2006\u200a\u2013\u200aongoing), Alone Time<\/em> (2007\u200a\u2013\u200aongoing), and Switch<\/em> (2009)\u200a\u2014\u200athat reflect Levine\u2019s commitment to subverting gender roles through portraiture. In the photographic series Queer Portraits<\/em>\u200a\u2014\u200aa self-proclaimed \u201clife project\u201d and the largest body of work in the exhibition\u200a\u2014\u200aLevine re-evaluates the heteronormative conception of the family portrait by demonstrating the manifold possibilities for queer family structures: a pregnant individual is seated with two people by their side (Family<\/em>, 2020), a parent and child lie napping on a bed (Morning Love<\/em>, 2019), a parent is shown nursing their child (Julie Nursing Casper<\/em>, 2018). Despite the seemingly staged compositions in Levine\u2019s portraits, it is clear that the individuals he is photographing have agency. Levine\u2019s sitters typically stare directly into the camera lens, meeting the viewer\u2019s gaze. In other contexts, this direct stare might feel uncomfortable or confrontational for viewers, but here, Levine\u2019s subjects are shown to justifiably validate the existence and strength of their queer family structures in a heteronormative society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"JJ-Levine-Family-2020\"
JJ Levine<\/strong>
Family<\/em>, 2020. 
Photo: courtesy of the artist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"JJ-Levine-Julie-Nursing-Casper-2018\"
JJ Levine<\/strong>
Julie Nursing Casper<\/em>, 2018. 
Photo: courtesy of the artist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Characteristic of Levine\u2019s work is a high level of care, intimacy, and trust that reverberates among photographer, subject, and viewer. All of the subjects photographed in Queer Portraits<\/em> are shown in their homes, surrounded by objects they own. Borrowing a process from the tropes of historical portraiture, Levine reveals aspects of their identities through their material surroundings. Intimates <\/em>(2018), for example, shows a needlepoint of a cat hung on the wall to suggest the subjects\u2019 pet. In a video produced by the McCord Museum for Queer Photographs<\/em>, Levine remarks on how he defines family by placing emphasis on his choice to only photograph individuals with whom he has fostered close relationships: \u201cWhen I say \u2018family,\u2019 I\u2019m talking about queer people in my life who I\u2019ve chosen to spend my life with,\u201d and he adds that photographing strangers would in fact feel \u201ccounterintuitive\u201d to his practice.2<\/sup><\/a><\/span> 2 <\/a> - JJ Levine, Queer Photographs<\/em> (video), McCord Museum, Montr\u00e9al, February 17, 2022, accessible online.<\/span> Levine\u2019s reference to his chosen family is another attestation to the artist\u2019s devotion to his collaborators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"JJ-Levine-Intimates-2018\"
JJ Levine<\/strong>
Intimates<\/em>, 2018. 
Photo: courtesy of the artist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Whereas Levine\u2019s photographs portray a profound level of intimacy and authentic care throughout his compositions, Brooklyn-based artist Jamie Diamond subverts the notion of the conventional family portrait through an act of parody. Diamond\u2019s Constructed Family Portraits <\/em>photo series (2006\u200a\u2013\u200aongoing), as well as her related video works, The History of the Harmonie Family Portrait<\/em>,<\/em><\/strong> The History of a Family Portrait<\/em>, and the Living Family Portrait <\/em>series, bring together complete strangers to create a series of staged pictures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In many of her photographic projects, Diamond attempts to demystify the myths about photography by playing with the fine line between reality and fiction through representations of gender, identity, class, and in this particular case, genetics. In her works focusing on family, Diamond not only plays the role of photographer but also that of trickster, creating compositions that, upon first glance, appear to be taken in a typical studio but are actually composed of people who just met for the first time. To realize her fictional family portraits, Diamond found her sitters on the Internet and invited them to pose as artificial family members in rented hotel rooms. Each photograph is given a fake surname taken from the name of the hotels in which the photographs were taken\u200a\u2014\u200aThe Hiltons<\/em>, The Caminos<\/em>, The Radissons<\/em>, to name a few\u200a\u2014\u200awhich add to the work\u2019s tongue-in-cheek qualities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Jamie-Diamond-The-Augusta-Family-2021\"
Jamie Diamond<\/strong>
The Augusta Family<\/em>, 2021, from the series Constructed Family Portraits<\/em>, 2006-ongoing.
Photo: courtesy of the artist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Diamond\u2019s photographs in Constructed Family Portraits<\/em> resemble conventional studio portraits: older generations (parents, grandparents) are usually seated in the front row, and members of younger generations stand or sit behind them, gathered around the central matriarchal or patriarchal figures. All of the subjects smile for the camera, and some rest their arms on the shoulders of another. Diamond\u2019s videographic works employ the same compositional strategy, but here, the viewer witnesses the performance of staging the work. In The History of the Harmonie Family Portrait<\/em> (2008), certain subjects hesitate to put their hands on the shoulders of the fictitious mother and father or to put their arms around one another. From the forced and awkward movements marking otherwise banal gestures of intimacy, the fallacy of these portraits is made evident almost immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Jamie-Diamond-The-Latham-Family-2006\"
Jamie Diamond<\/strong>
The Latham Family<\/em>, 2006, from the series Constructed Family Portraits<\/em>, 2006-ongoing.
Photo: courtesy of the artist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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By disrupting photography\u2019s use as a medium for truth, Diamond\u2019s staged performances of family relations play with the belief that, as she writes, \u201cthe family portrait depicts a particular mythology or stereotypical ideal of a happy life.\u201d3<\/sup><\/a><\/span> 3 <\/a> - \u201cConstructed Family Portraits,\u201d Jamie Diamond, artist\u2019s website, accessible online.<\/span> The concept of \u201cthe happy family\u201d is both typified and broadcast through the display of family portraits. As Ahmed argues, these serve to produce \u201cthe family\u2026 as a happy object.\u201d4<\/sup><\/a><\/span> 4 <\/a> - Sara Ahmed, \u201cHappy Objects,\u201d in The Promise of Happiness<\/em> (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2010), 45.<\/span> The display of one\u2019s family portrait may also suggest that the owner of the photograph\u200a\u2014\u200aone of the happy people in the picture\u200a\u2014\u200ahas successfully made and maintained a happy family. Under capitalism\u2019s demand for renewal and procreation, society has developed a presumed need for heterosexual family structures. Paired with this is the promise of producing a \u201chappy family\u201d as a selling point for the machine of social reproduction. To not achieve this is a failure in the eyes of capitalist systems. As the feminist scholar, Jack Halberstam writes, \u201cheteronormative common sense leads to the equation of success with advancement, capital accumulation, family, ethical conduct, and hope,\u201d whereas queer or counter-hegemonic outlooks are associated with failure through \u201cnonconformity, anticapitalist practices, nonreproductive life styles, negativity, and critique.\u201d5<\/sup><\/a><\/span> 5 <\/a> - Jack Halberstam, \u201cThe Queer Art of Failure,\u201d in The Queer Art of Failure<\/em> (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2011), 89.<\/span> In all of their falsehoods, Diamond\u2019s images fail to uphold the myth of the happy family\u200a\u2014\u200awhile superficially avowing it. With a level of humour, her portraits reveal the performative qualities found in all images of familial bonds, be they genetic or chosen, and bring into question how we may be persuaded to wrongfully validate these images.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

By finding her subjects on the Internet, Diamond proves how the digital age has made it easier to find communities online. This is increasingly important for queer individuals who may have to seek out chosen families in digital spaces. New York-based photographer Naima Green was commissioned by Facebook in June 2022 for a Pride Month portrait series titled My Chosen Family<\/em>. Using Facebook\u2019s \u201cGroups\u201d feature, Green was commissioned to photograph members \u201cfeaturing diverse, intersectional communities where people have found connection.\u201d6<\/sup><\/a><\/span> 6 <\/a> - \u201cCelebrating Pride With LGBTQ+ Communities and Creators,\u201d Meta (website), June 1, 2022, accessible online.<\/span> Through her portrait photography, Green represents moments of closeness in queer and Black communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Levine, Green focuses on the experience of her subjects, expressing a high level of care and intimacy. Even though My Chosen Family<\/em> is a commercial project commissioned by the oft-criticized social media giant, Green\u2019s care for her subjects shines through in the joy that exudes from these portraits. Facebook\u2019s commissioning of the project also highlights queer voices within a larger, sometimes hostile environment for queer and trans users of the platform. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Although recognizable to all queer communities, the concept of a chosen family is of particular importance among queer and trans youths of colour, who are disproportionately affected by homelessness compared to white or cisgender peers.<\/pre>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Speaking about the portrait series, Green, herself a queer Black woman, reiterates the criticality of chosen family in queer and Black communities, noting, \u201cThere is a level of understanding that you build with a chosen family.\u201d7<\/sup><\/a><\/span> 7 <\/a> - Naima Green, quoted in Erica R. Williams, \u201cNaima Green Puts A Spin On Classic Family Portraits By Highlighting \u2018Chosen Family\u2019 In The LGBTQ+ Community,\u201d ESSENCE (website), June 30, 2022, accessible online.<\/span> Green photographed individuals who were members of several private Facebook groups with varying missions. For her photograph of members of NYC Queer Activists, a group with approximately 650 members that strives to address queer and trans issues in New York City, Green\u2019s composition feels much more intimate. Three individuals, dressed in warm tones of oranges and browns, appear to be in the middle of a serious conversation. Their hands rest on each other to express their closeness and care not only for each other but for the broader community. Drag families are of particular importance in queer culture, as well as being examples of chosen families in their own right. Using the nomenclature found in given families (mother, father, daughter, sister), drag families form when a drag queen or king helps another emerging drag performer ahead of their first performance. Drag families can be large and longstanding, as The Royal House of LaBeija is, and they can be smaller. The term \u201chouse\u201d can be used interchangeably with \u201cfamily\u201d in this context as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\"JJ-Levine-Morning-Love-2019\"
JJ Levine<\/strong>
Morning Love<\/em>, 2019. 
Photo: courtesy of the artist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Seen together, the works of Levine, Diamond, and Green demonstrate the multitude of family structures that exist in queer lens-based practices. They explore intimacy and connection while simultaneously questioning the very definition of family that many within heteronormative society are raised to believe is the only option. As an heirloom object, the family photograph can bring forward complicated issues regarding representation, memory, lineage, and the familial archive. These legacies can propose troubling limits for how queer descendants might understand their own future possibilities for family and kinship. Although hegemonic systems continue to silence queer voices, LGBTQIA2S+ people have always sought out and created chosen families for their own survival and resilience. Photography presents the potential to document such chosen bonds, reclaiming family beyond its traditional, heteronormative, and limiting perception. In the photographs by Levine, Diamond, and Green, we are given a glimpse into a world where family is not only possible but empowered, joyful, and filled with promise.<\/p>\n
Austin Henderson, Jamie Diamond, JJ Levine, Naima Green<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Displayed upon a shelf in my family\u2019s cottage are two group photos housed in plain black frames. On the left is the paternal side of my family (Henderson) and on the right, my Greek-Canadian maternal family (Lakas). Both taken during the summer in the early 1950s, the photographs are set in parks during annual family reunions. My father\u2019s family is sitting in a moderately staged manner, similar to a class photo, with three rows of relatives\u200a\u2014\u200aincluding my late grandparents\u200a\u2014\u200afacing the camera directly. My mother\u2019s family is more casually posed, with most of my relatives seated at a long picnic table during a meal. My grandparents\u200a\u2014\u200aboth of whom passed on before I was born\u200a\u2014\u200aare turned slightly to face the camera, squinting and smiling under the summer sun. The photographs, of course, cannot reveal everything. How hot was it on those days? What was on the menu? What were they talking about?<\/br>","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":181951,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[882],"tags":[],"numeros":[5499],"disciplines":[],"statuts":[],"checklist":[],"auteurs":[839],"artistes":[5537,2211,5545],"thematiques":[],"type_post":[],"class_list":["post-181967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-post","numeros-107-family","auteurs-austin-henderson","artistes-jamie-diamond-en","artistes-jj-levine-en","artistes-naima-green-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181967"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181967\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":271198,"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181967\/revisions\/271198"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181967"},{"taxonomy":"numeros","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/numeros?post=181967"},{"taxonomy":"disciplines","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/disciplines?post=181967"},{"taxonomy":"statuts","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/statuts?post=181967"},{"taxonomy":"checklist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/checklist?post=181967"},{"taxonomy":"auteurs","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/auteurs?post=181967"},{"taxonomy":"artistes","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artistes?post=181967"},{"taxonomy":"thematiques","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/thematiques?post=181967"},{"taxonomy":"type_post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/type_post?post=181967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}