Sharkey Speaks on Queer Kids at PEA

Brooklyn-based photographer and filmmaker Michael Sharkey, creator of the internationally exhibited photography project Queer Kids, visited campus as the artist-in-residence last week. 

Queer Kids, which began in 2006, is a series of empowering photographic portraits that aims to bring visibility to the strength and complexity of LGBTQ+ youth. “I was trying to discover what it meant to be young and queer in America in that particular moment [in time],” Sharkey said. “The moment was extraordinary because there wasn’t a time that had existed previously in which young, queer people could be seen and heard. Recognizing the uniqueness of that moment, my intention was to make a document that did service to [its] extraordinary circumstances.”

Sharkey first came to the attention of the Lamont Gallery in 2013 when Director of Student Activities Joanne Lembo, a college peer of Sharkey’s, introduced his work to Gallery Director and Curator Lauren O’Neal. “I saw Mr. Sharkey’s work on his website was captivated,” O’Neal said. Accordingly, a selection of portraits from Queer Kids launched in the gallery during the fall of 2017. Following the closure of the exhibit, Sharkey took Queer Kids-styled photographs of LGBTQ+ Exonians as a retrospective project to the original from ten years earlier.

When photographing for Queer Kids in 2006, Sharkey sought to capture the essence of his subjects’ identities by allowing them certain liberalities in self-expression. “Typically, I ask the person to bring me to a location of some significance. It could be a domestic setting, it could be scholastic, it could be recreational, but something of some significance to the person.” 

During Sharkey’s shoots at PEA, LGBTQ+ students who volunteered as subjects were also able to choose their own spots on campus. “He photographed Exonians in all of their places. We got to witness his process and how he set up the shots. It was wonderful,” O’Neal recalled. 

Sharkey photographed senior Justin Li during his last visit. “I loved being a part of the project. I wanted to document my style and personality at that time, so that I could reflect on it later on,” he said. 

Now, three years later, the collective efforts of the Lamont Gallery, Student Activities Office, Class of 1945 Library and the Art Department have brought Sharkey back to display the portraits he took of Exonians. 

O’Neal highlighted the meaningful timing of the photo reveals. “It was Ms. Lembo [who] suggested printing the portraits and putting them on display, particularly because there are some portraits of students who are still here.”

During his residency, Sharkey attended classes from printmaking in the Art Department to Queer Literature in the English Department, hosted an informative luncheon on Friday Feb. 14 and conversed with viewers at the Queer Kids reception on Sunday Feb. 16 in the Library, where his portraits are currently on display. 

“It’s been a great week,” Sharkey said. He snapped his fingers. “It went by like that.”