a queer photog / holly stevens

Hello, all! It's been a while since I wrote—October came and went without me sending up an update, and I generally try to send something out monthly. But inspiration strikes when it is meant to. These last 6 weeks have been very heavy and horrific times in the world, and bearing witness to that took precedence over sending anything out. Although things are still not resolved in Gaza and it's important to keep contacting our reps to demand a ceasefire (I highly recommend the app 5 Calls if you have not already heard about it), I felt motivation returning a bit to share some recent photography that meant a lot to me. I hope this newsletter offers you some nourishment and reprieve if you're feeling exhausted and burnt out.

One of the most fulfilling projects I got to shoot this year was for Your Other Mother, a new podcast exploring stories of early queer family-making. The host, AnnaLise, reached out to me to document her and her two moms, Tracy and Denise, who adopted AnnaLise in the early 1990s—becoming the first queer couple to successfully adopt in their county in Western Washington. These are some of my favorites images from that session.

Not only is this a subject matter that is very important to me, but I have also been deeply desiring to capture more folks over 50; and getting to photograph two queer elders who have been together for 30+ years was an incredible honor. This shoot really made me feel like I am on exactly the path I am meant to be on with my photography and my business. Tracy, Denise and AnnaLise were fantastic company and their connection and laughter left me feeling joyful for days afterwards.

It is times like these that I really feel like I have found my sacred work, and I really appreciate all of you being here to witness it. If you get the chance to listen to Your Other Mother, I highly recommend it! I have been really enjoying it and learned a lot that I didn't know about being a queer family in the 90s and early 00s.

Coming up in the next few weeks I will be announcing dates for my next class, which will be a queer-centered approach to personal budgeting. I really appreciate everyone who made Plastic Camera Magic a success last month and I can't wait to keep developing classes on topics that I care about. Teaching online has turned out to be a wonderful way to build community and connect with people who are outside my geographic radius! I even I hope you will join me for my next class if the subject matter calls to you.

 

Thank you for reading! Until next time,

Holly