GUT.KATHOLISCH.QUEER. - For a church without fear

A portrait series with members of #OutInChurch

 

As part of the #OutInChurch portrait series, photographs were taken of several female and male queer people who belong to the #OutInChurch organisation (www.outinchurch.de). The photographs are not "normal" portraits, but show the people in their personal involvement in the church location, sometimes very close - sometimes far away. Through different photographic approaches, the viewer must find individual answers to the question of what the photographer wants to express with his photographs and how queer portrayed people perceive the Catholic Church. A closer look at the exhibition reveals the meta-phorical connection between the people and the church. For example, the image of a person stepping out of the dark is representative of the initiative that came out publicly on 24 January 2022 in the Tagesschau. This exhibition thus gives the queer members of the #OutInChurch association a face and the corresponding public attention.

A total of almost 50 photographs are on display, which allow viewers to immerse themselves in their own worlds and contain in-depth stories.

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Artist Bio

Martin Niekämper was already very interested in photography in his youth. During his work as a teacher for special needs education, photography became more and more important in his free time. As part of his photography studies at the Fotoakademie-Koeln from September 2020 - March 2023, portraits in particular crystallised as a focus alongside industrial and commercial photography. The reference to the Catholic Church, in which he himself was very active, is also evident in his series. His current project is the portrait series with female and male queer members of #OutInChurch (www.outinchurch.de).