Queer Icons, the dramatic but also fabulous story of a community on display in Turin

In an almost paradoxical way, but full of meaning, these people are often portrayed by the photographer in colorful and extravagant shapes: «I wanted to free myself from the bondage of historical accuracy and above all from the obsession of representing everything and everyone, surely there would certainly have been someone excluded or offended. For this reason there are famous people and others less famous, to obtain a mix and above all by asking each person how they wanted to be portrayed. It was supposed to be a celebration of their personality.” Particular, in this sense, is also the choice of print photos on fabrica reference to the materiality of the clubbing scene, a reference to the concrete and physical world of the places where the LGBTQIA+ community lived, had fun, but also fought.

As in other past works by Serck-Hanssen, such as those on sutures or traditional Chinese cupping, attention is always given to the bodies, but always with a view to a narrative that goes beyond physicality: «For me we always start from the body first, perhaps also due to my own personal experience, given that as a child I almost died and they opened and closed me» , he tells us: «Ultimately it’s about how you react to bodies. For me the body language it is perhaps more important than the verbal one, it always fascinates me how my photography reacts to seeing them and representing them.” This is how he explains his relationship with the subjects photographed: «It’s not a very fair relationship, they can’t see my gaze hidden behind the lens, but I like to see what happens when their bodies meet the light, in a way natural. And I don’t take pictures of them for long, sometimes 4-5 shots are enough, it’s one intimate, instant communication because I try to capture their vulnerability, but at the same time I want them to always feel at ease too.”