Interviewee/model call: Gender expression and environment -photography project

This post can be found in finnish here // Lue tämä postaus suomeksi täällä.

This year I will be working on a photography project about gender expression in relation to environment. If you are interested in being part of this project and telling your story, you can apply here.

We’re all born naked and the rest is drag

Themes
Gender expression and gender diversity in relation to society's expectations and environment. How do people (in particular, queer people) navigate and express gender through style, presentation, and everyday activities? Challenging gender normativity.

Vision
The project challenges society's unwritten rules about gender. The interviews and photographs portray stories of Finns in different environments. The work is of social significance in a society that is constantly getting more polarized. It is important to create understanding, especially towards those in minorities. The photographs focus not only on portraits, but also on the environment and its impact on the individual in different contexts (e.g. in cities, in the countryside, at work, in leisure, IRL and online).

Even though this project focuses on queer experiences, everyone is welcome to join the project as they are. Telling the stories of gender non-conforming straight and cis people is also important part of this project.

Implementation

The project's method is photojournalistic and the finished product is presented as a collection of images and text. The photo shoots will take place in the summer of 2025 around Finland. Germany 26.-8.2025.

Finland-Germany connection

I have been granted Särö ry's residency in Germany for 28.7.-10.8.2025. I'm going to spend roughly two weeks in a small town near Berlin, at the border of Germany and Poland, where I’ll be working on this photo project. That's why I'm especially looking for a person who spends time in both Finland and Germany and could tell about the possible differences between the two countries. Pride is celebrated in Berlin on July 26th and I will most likely be there.

Project timeline and process

I will select the subjects for the project in April/May of 2025. I have created a form through which those interested can apply for the project. Questions marked with a red asterisk on the form are mandatory. Filling out the form does not automatically guarantee a spot in the project. Based on the answers, I’ll  invite a few people to a short one on one remote meeting, an unofficial pre-interview. In this remote meeting, we will go through the answers together, the applicant will have the opportunity to tell us about themselves in more detail, we will think about the environments in which the images could be realized and I will tell you more about the project and answer any questions.

Due to the schedule and the scope of the shoots, I can only choose four or five subjects at this point. Before the shoot, everyone is provided with a model release and contract to sign, which specifies the rights to use and publish the photos.

The goal is to photograph each interviewee in two different environments. Understandably, this may not be possible. For example, in a situation where one environment that the interviewee is talking about is unsafe, we find and create an environment that symbolizes that space, but safely.

Photo shoots in Finland will take place in the summer of 2025. Shoots in Germany may take place during 26.7.-8.8.2025. I am working on this project while participating in a mentoring program for photographers, which ends in October 2025. The publication of the project's first completed photo collection will take place near the end of the program.

Photograph of a person with a moustache dressed in what would be considered women's clothing in their time; they are wearing an costume with corset type doublet and hosiery, carrying a whip. Photograph c.1896 Richard von Krafft-Ebing.

TLDR

• The project is queer-feminist. The topic is gender expression and gender diversity in relation to society's expectations and environment.

• The photographs are portraits in a milieu. The goal is to photograph everyone in two environments.

• Participation in the project is free of charge and no fee is paid. Each person is provided with a couple of digital versions of their own portraits as a souvenir.

• You can apply for the project through this form.

• The photographer makes the selection based on the form and the remote video call meeting. Not everyone who has registered will necessarily be invited to a remote meeting.

• Due to the personal and sensitive nature of the subject, the identity of the subjects can be blurred and anonymized if necessary.

• The photographer and the subjects must sign a contract that defines the right to use and distribute the images.

• Photographs will be accompanied by a text based on the subject's interview. The interviews are recorded in audio or video format.

If you have any questions you can write me an email: sallantyoposti[at]gmail.com.