Artist Statement
This photo essay titled, You Are You, invites the viewer into an unlikely, unseen place where young gender nonconforming boys are able to express themselves freely, unburdened by fear of bullying and discrimination. It's a place where LGBT youth can be themselves and develop self-esteem and self-acceptance supported by loving parents and siblings; a place which can serve as a model for a society in which the first generation of children able to lead an openly LGBT childhood will come of age.
Studies show that nine out of ten LGBT students are harassed at school and feel unsafe. This body of work offers an alternative vision. In portraying gender nonconforming youth in an accepting and loving environment, I intend for this essay to stand as a guidepost for families and friends of gender variant children. You Are You seeks to deepen the public’s understanding and acceptance of gender variant children through education and outreach.
Born and raised in suburban Detroit, Lindsay Morris resides on the East End of Long Island with her husband and two sons. Her passion for photography began at age 18, when she was given her first camera while spending a year in South Africa as a Rotary Youth Exchange student. Since 2006, she has been photo editor for Edible East End magazine, where she documents the food culture on Long Island.
Lindsay’s work has been published in the New York Times Magazine, PDN, Haaretz, GEO Germany, Days Japan, Marie Claire and Elle and has been featured on photography blogs Slate/Behold, Huffington Post, Fraction, WPO, L'Oeil de la Photographie and abcNews.com. She was a 2013 Critical Mass finalist and nominee for the 2013 Julia Margaret Cameron Award.
Recent exhibitions include Outono Fotografico Festival, Spain, Sous Les Etoiles Gallery, NY, The Fence and Photoville, Atlanta and Brooklyn, NY, a solo show at the Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO and a selected Ctrl+P artist at the Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago.
Her book, You Are You, which documents a weekend summer camp for gender-nonconforming children and their families, will be released in April 2015 in collaboration with Kehrer Verlag.
Lindsay studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and holds a BFA from the University of Michigan School of Art.