"This photographic work acts as a visual insight into safer spaces within Berlin’s queer underground communities where ‘otherness’ is celebrated."
Artist: Emily Dodd-Noble
Project: Dancing Off Beat
"Dancing Off Beat is a love letter to those that deserve to see how beautiful they truly are, just the way they are. One’s power comes from their uniqueness. It is a wonderful thing to move through this life to a rhythm that is slightly off beat, move to a frequency that feels correct.
Feeling safe to express one’s self is immensely powerful and with this comes a way of life lived an authentically. We all deserve to be loved and appreciated for who we are regardless of what it is that makes us feel content in this world.
Berlin’s queer community is a vibrant ecosystem that is balanced and unbalanced simultaneously. The queer community is ever evolving and being increasingly seen and understood by the general population. The queer community’s bond is held tightly together by the unified desire for acceptance.
It is time that the members of the queer community are seen, heard, felt and valued by the gender typical population. We each have an equal right to love and be loved and live as our truly authentic selves.
For many, being accepted for this uniqueness is not a given. Due to one’s background, upbringing, family or religious community they are not free to express themselves as they so desire. However, everyone deserves to feel safe expressing themselves as they so choose."
"It is this mentality that has led to the creation of these portraits. Through attending queer events such as voguing balls, drag shows, queer festivals and parties, Dodd-Noble was drawn to the radiant energy reverberating off these individuals within their safer space, surrounded by others that have been ‘othered’. Seeing these individuals in a space that enabled them to feel comfortable to be themselves is a privilege. Knowing the hardships that the majority of this community have gone through up until this moment in time and seeing them now, surrounded by like minded others who accepted them for their true selves was extraordinarily beautiful.
Within these spaces one’s sexuality, sexual orientation and gender are seen, felt, understood, empathised and sympathised with. People are encouraged to be themselves and know being their true selves is their power.
When entering spaces such as voguing balls, drag shows and queer parties there is a momentum that is so inviting and visceral. The sense of community and respect towards those that have also been searching for safer spaces to express their gender and performative self is tangible. It’s an inspiring moment to witness such a release from one’s inner world.
Time seems to exist with no boundaries, as if in a vacuum, feeling eternal, momentarily infinite. An aura of possibility reverberates through the space, passing through each individual with a continuous flow of monumental potential.
The energy at the balls feels ready to ignite and transcend, carrying everyone in the room on a momentary journey of expression.
The movement of those strutting down the runway, heads held high, lights upon their bodies, gaining confidence from the echoing voices of those lining the runway to encourage, uplift, appreciate and admire is a privilege to experience. This is their moment, to own it, to work it and show to their community but mainly to themselves that they are powerful, they are here and they are beautiful just as they are."
"The competitive aspect of the voguing balls is crucial and it pushes people to come as into themselves as possible and show the audience who they really are. There is infinite support from the fellow competitors and those that attend the ball. However, the competitive nature of the balls pushes people into the extremity of their self expression. Be bold, empowered, confident, audacious, resilient, determined, hold integrity, infinite, flamboyant, animated, vivacious, and live these to the highest degree of expression. The individuals are in a space of complete freedom, to be as they wish to be, as they have wanted for much of their lives.
Drag performance leaves space for the individual to evolve into another side of self that lives within. By taking oneself out of ones self into another side of self allows one to grow into their whole selves.
The ability to get up on a stage, command the space, go against the grain and choose to be liberated by one's own authenticity emulates a huge amount of self comfort and confidence. Anyone that feels able to capture the imagination of an audience is worth admiring.
The humorous, theatrical side of drag allows a jovial, accepting environment. The performances are over the top, heighted depictions of characters which ignite the imagination of the audience. For this brief moment in time, these characters live entirely within the world of pretence yet it feels entirely real. The audience is transported into a spectacle of possibility. It is a privilege to have a world created for us to escape to and live in a fantastical moment in time.
These images are unstaged, the moment exists just as it does. Dodd-Noble focused on the energy that the individual held and aimed to capture this.
Heavily lured in by colour, the bright charismatic palette of these images is intentionally expressive and bold. A reflection of the colourful way of the LBGTQA+ community is bold, colourful and unapologetically vibrant. Working with synesthesia, Dodd-Noble works with the senses, illuminating the energy of the individual through colours that reflect their energy.
There is a delicate intimacy within all of the portraits in this series. The brief moment of interaction between Dodd-Noble and her subjects remains deeply personal. A moment of calm between two strangers. Dodd-Noble works intentionally with empathy, ensuring the subject feels comfortable and calm in her presence. From meeting the subject within their own frequency and energy state there is a sense of comfort created and therefore the image created is authentic to the natural state of the individual. It is this that Dodd-Noble is focusing to capture, a totally pure reflection of this person, in this moment.
Gratitude is at the heart of this project.
I am grateful for all that allowed themselves to be vulnerable with me. It is not easy to hold the space and have a camera lense pointed in your face, so to everyone I photographed, thank you, be proud of the person you are. I see you."
© Emily Dodd-Noble