For over the last four years, I have been working on a project photographing and interviewing high school and collegiate athletes across the United States, who also openly self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer.  While these individuals are only a small segment of the LGBTQ community, I wanted to photograph them and give them visibility because they exemplify a particular courage and self-confidence in being “out” at a very young age while also competitively participating in the often-times homophobic world of sports.  More importantly, these individuals do not let fear stand in the way of being true to themselves and enjoying what life has to offer.  This is a lesson that is universal.

I have so far photographed over 50 athletes for this project, more than halfway towards my goal of 100 before I begin to work on a book publication.  I do not pick and choose whom to photograph based on looks, sport, gender, experience, or other such criteria, and I have actually so far photographed every athlete who volunteers and fits the project’s specifications (an “out” scholastic LGBTQ-identified athlete).  Occasionally, due to scheduling conflicts (or my limited finances at the time) a photo shoot doesn’t happen, but I never reject someone who fits the criteria and asks to be photographed.  This is also why multiple sports and schools duplicate themselves in the pictures (I do not just pick one athlete per college to photograph or have only one person represent each sport).  Also, as someone who self-identifies as a person of color, I am always hoping to increase representation of this group of athletes in the project. 

My intention of this work is not to say that this is how all LGBTQ bodies actually look like, or that my photographs represent how everyone in the community should look like.  I want to defend the work as simply singular photographs of particular individuals: unique in their own experiences and lives.  The scope of the project happens to be just of a very small segment of a very diverse and wonderful LGBTQ community, and part of my hope is that other artists and photographers will undertake future projects that will do justice to other underrepresented groups.

In 2006, I organized an exhibition series called FearlessCampusTour.org, which uses photography to encourage discussion about homophobia and sports at high schools and colleges around the country.  In particular, I wanted to take art out of its traditional location in galleries and museums, and place the work in highly visible areas for young people.  Besides student centers, previous exhibition venues have included college gyms, dining facilities and dormitory common areas, forcing an otherwise non-art-going public to see the images and maybe think about the issues being presented.  Over the past year, this project has been exhibited and seen at Yale University, Indiana University-Bloomington, Columbia University, Barnard College, Dartmouth College, Vassar College, the University Wisconsin-Oshkosh, and the University of Southern California (USC).

For more information or to have an exhibition at another campus or center, please visit www.FearlessCampusTour.org.  Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments, and also if you or someone you know would be interested in participating in the project.

                                                                                        -- Jeff Sheng