Tag Archives: Photographer

Photographer Launches An Exhibition Called ‘I Am Here: The Lesbian Portraits’

Robert Kalman would often stop people on the streets of New York and ask if he could take their portrait. One day he asked a tattooed man if he could take his portrait and then he handed him a piece of paper asking him to write a few words about himself. Kalman was surprised when the words said ‘this man’s a lady.

From this one encounter it prompted Robert to work on an exhibition and dedicate it to his sister, Hillary Kalman, who was also a lesbian and died 10 years previously.

He decided that with every portrait the model would write a few words about themselves that would also be displayed with the portrait.

The Exhibition opens on September 23rd at The Stonewall Museum and will run until November 2nd.

Kalman said that he remembers when his sister came out in 1976 and said no one was very positive, especially her Mother.

Our mother wrote a hideous note that I preserved as a photograph. The note read ‘Hillary, I didn’t realize how much you hate me. Mother.’ “

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The note will also be displayed in the exhibition next to Hillary’s photograph. Kalman said that he didn’t want the women smiling in the photo as he wanted to see the real them, but he goes on to say that many women express happy feelings in their notes and most are positive. Robert thinks that his sister would be happy to hear that after the difficulties she went through herself.

All the photographs are in black and white and Robert stated that he would only take two pictures as this was enough to capture the essence of the women. Kalmen worked with his wife on the project who would approach the women and ask if they would be photographed. He states that women feel less threatened if another women approaches them rather than a strange man they don’t know.

Robert says that his subjects are important to him and stated:

I have an emotional response to people, and I want to photograph them. When I stop a person, it’s for a reason. It’s because something about that person resonated with me.”

Don’t miss seeing this exhibition and admission is also free.

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“I Am Here: The Lesbian Portraits” will be on exhibit Sept. 23-Nov. 2 at the Stonewall National Museum, 2157 Wilton Drive, in Wilton Manors. Robert Kalman will speak during an opening reception at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23. Admission is free. Call 954-763-8565 or go to Stonewall-Museum.org.

This Compelling Photo Series Aims To Tackle Rape Victim Blaming

On June 22, a student-run project called Current Solutions published a series of photos of women representing victim-blaming statements like those made by Brock Turner and his father in court.

Current Solutions is a platform dedicated to spreading awareness about sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and gender-based violence. It’s a place for people to safely share their stories, to enter the conversation and safely speak out about these widespread and often taboo issues in a real, unfiltered way.

Launched just over a month ago, Current Solutions has gotten a great response from the community, and their “Dear Brock Turner” Artist Feature garnered even more attention.

Co-Founder of Current Solutions, Maxwell Fong, explained

Most people know the statistic one in four women are assaulted during their college career, but what most people don’t realize is that this happens to one in four women they know. By putting faces to these stories, we’re showing the world that people are not afraid to speak out. People who have shared their stories have come back and told us about the healing that sharing has given them. Many of these survivors are coming out for the first time, and we are honored that they have chosen our platform to share on. We’re trying to provide a safe place for people to share,” 

Elan Timmons, also added

We are passionate about raising awareness because these issues are never going to go away on their own. We need people to realize that they are prevalent and worth solving; and we want to come up with tangible solutions.”

Hannah Joslin, Public Relations & Branding Director.

Not only have we gotten people wanting to share their stories, but we have also gotten a major response from people in the community telling us that they love the stories we are sharing to help spread awareness, asking how they can help and get involved. People have expressed that they too believe this is an issue worth talking about.”

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