We are always excited to share new work by our artists, and Jess T. Dugan sent us new photographs this week! Jess has had a busy summer teaching workshops and making new portraits. Below are four new additions to her series Every Breath We Drew.

 

Jess writes that Every Breath We Drew “explores the power of identity, desire, and connection through portraits of myself and others. Working within the framework of queer experience and from my actively constructed sense of masculinity, my portraits examine the intersection between private, individual identity and the search for intimate connection with others. I photograph people in their homes, often in their bedrooms, using medium and large format cameras to create a deep, sustained engagement, resulting in an intimate and detailed portrait.

“I combine formal portraits, images of couples, self-portraits, and photographs of my own romantic relationship to investigate broader themes of identity and connection while also speaking to my private, individual experience. The photographs of men and masculine individuals act as a kind of mirror; they depict the type of gentle masculinity I am attracted to, yet also the kind I want to embody. Similarly, the photographs of relationships speak to a drive to be seen, understood, desired through the eyes of a another person; a reflection of the self as the ultimate intimate connection.

“By asking others to be vulnerable with me through the act of being photographed, I am laying claim to what I find beautiful and powerful while asking larger questions about how identity is formed, desire is expressed, and intimate connection is sought.”

Jess T. Dugan is an artist whose work explores issues of gender, sexuality, identity, and community. Jess earned a BFA in Photography from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, a Master of Liberal Arts in Museum Studies from Harvard University, and an MFA in Photography from Columbia College Chicago. Portraits from this series are currently on view in the 2017 Aperture Summer Open On Freedom, at the Aperture Foundation, in New York City, NY, until August 17 and in The Outwin 2016: American Portraiture Today at the Art Museum of South Texas in Corpus Christi, TX, until September 10. You can see more of Every Breath We Drew on our website here.