Åsa Johannesson's 'The Queering of Photography' at Stills, Edinburgh

Åsa Johannesson's decade-long project 'The Queering of Photography' is now on view at Stills in Edinburgh from 1 May to 27 June. The exhibition brings together five interconnected series—'Looking Out, Looking In', 'Frame', 'Figural, Figurative', 'Turn', and 'Skin'—that span black-and-white studio portraits, Roman statue studies, experimental Polaroids, and Polaroid emulsion sculptures. Johannesson began the work during her PhD at the Royal College of Art in 2015, exploring how queer identity can be expressed through photographic process and materiality rather than solely through representation. Her practice subverts traditional portraiture by emphasizing technique, collaboration with sitters, and the dialogue between human subjects and classical sculptures. The artist draws on influences such as Peter Hujar, Robert Mapplethorpe, Claude Cahun, and feminist theory. Residencies at the British School at Rome allowed her to photograph marble statues, introducing queer narratives into classical sculpture. Johannesson's book 'Queer Methodology for Photography' was published by Routledge in 2024. The exhibition offers a rare full-archive view of her work, which she hopes provides LGBTQ+ audiences, especially the trans community, with a space where their beauty can be recognized.