First appearing in the English language in the sixteenth century as an adjective meaning “strange,” “odd,” or “peculiar,” queer was used to refer to nonnormative behavior, dress, and lifestyle. It was only in the mid-twentieth century, and mainly in the United States and Europe, that a generalized notion of a shared identity began to cohere in a way that we might recognize today, inclusive of men, women, and trans people who saw their sexuality and gender identity as constitutive of their sense of self. The advent of photography as a medium and its power to capture a subject—representing reality, or a close approximation—has inherently been linked with the construction and practice of identity. Since the camera’s invention in 1839, and despite periods of severe homophobia, the photographic art form has been used by and for individuals belonging to dynamic LGBTQ+ communities, helping shape and affirm queer culture and identity across its many intersections.
