Spectrum was the name chosen 43 years ago by our founders to represent an inclusive and broad range of approaches, content, and form. We have strived to live up to this community-oriented mission through teamwork and honoring
photographic arts.

Once a year our members assemble a group display of works that occupies our whole exhibition space. For this show, each member has chosen their last produced favorites to give the viewer a glimpse of the kinds of projects that represent their latest passions or ideas.

Over the past couple of years, I have been creating images around the idea of Queer Modernity. Upon making my images I discovered more about queer history, more specifically queer art history. For some people, the idea of queerness is a modern or new age way of thinking, but, our identities have been around for centuries, going all the way back to 334 B.C. when Hephaestion, long believed to be Alexander the Great’s boyfriend had sent letters to Alexander’s mother telling her to stop quarreling with him. As the love he had for her son was insurmountable. We have tons of documentation that support the notion that queerness is not a new age concept. Rather, we have always been here, just hiding in plain sight. It is only now, in the present day, that we see a rampant exposure of new queer identities emerging because we feel more comfortable expressing ourselves openly.

For Queerness: Past and Present I focused on the polaroid process. The polaroid process results in a one-of-a-kind image that can never truly be replicated. A visual interpretation of the queer experience. Each individual has a one-of-a-kind experience coming to terms with who they are and ultimately finding ways to celebrate themselves in their fullest capacity. I chose to photograph my subjects with a softer focus to take a more painterly approach to the image making process. Mostly in reference to the art historical context that I have been consumed by for a few years. Within this exhibition, I have made sure to highlight specific queer coding that has been present in art history for centuries: the use of florals, peacock feathers, and sequins, all play a special role in the queer coding that has been present for centuries. 

Within the context of the “Queer Timeline” we queer folk must go through an extra hurdle in our lives. The average human experience in this timeline is: being born, growing up, finishing high school, going to college, joining the workforce, getting married, buying a house, and starting a family. However, with queer people, we have an extra step in our “Queer Timeline;” somewhere in there, we must come to terms with ourselves, which tends to put us ‘off track’ by a couple of years in relation to our heterosexual counterparts. An idea that got me thinking about how to represent queerness and not just rely on the hypersexuality that you’ll see when doing a rough hashtag search on Instagram of #queerart. Queerness is not just made for specific people, it is meant to be celebrated by everyone who has found themselves as an outsider looking in.

Queerness: Past and Present is my love letter to queerness and how diversified this notion is. I would like to thank my participants who openly shared themselves with my practice and embraced their own identities within this notion. I would also like to pay special homage to the queer elders who have paved the way for us queer folk to be so open and willing to love one another so openly and emphatically. It is because of them that we can exist. We no longer have to hide our queerness in coded symbols. I would also like to thank my husband, Cody Bates, for embracing my artistic practice and for his constant support.

I will also be offering a Polaroid Manipulation workshop on January 6, 2024, at 11:00AM. I have a few polaroid cameras available and will offer my expertise in the following techniques: polaroid emulsion lifts, film manipulation, and compositional techniques with polaroid film. Spacing is limited to 8 persons and the cost is $50 per person (to cover the price of the film), please contact gailangray@gmail.com to RSVP for the workshop.

I am a storyteller; my curiosity leads me to ask a lot of questions. My parents
mistakenly took it as sass but my lively imagination genuinely needed to connect the dots. I found that connection when I picked up the camera and immersed myself in an art community. An artistic journey spanning decades, my passion for photography ignited in the late 80’s with the discovery of the wet darkroom. Witnessing the evolution from film to digital, I’ve embraced the ever-changing landscape of technology while preserving the timeless essence of capturing moments.

My current exhibition showcases a delicate dance between the past and present. Through the lens of film, I capture the essence of florals, weaving in digital processes to enhance their innate beauty. My portraits embody the newer technology but are created with genuine human connection on a personal level.

Growth, life, erosion and age are all beautiful when viewed as a moment that will never be the same. Time never stops, we never get that minute back. An event, a portrait and the changing landscape can only be captured that second, whether it be seen with our eyes, or captured with a camera. As we age our mind may not be the keeper of memories anymore, but a photograph! A photograph lives on from generation to generation revealing history, memories and emotion.

Join me on this visual odyssey, where each photograph not only tells a story but
also invites you to join in the celebration of my life’s connections.