STATES OF UNION is comprised of a series of color portrait photographs of same-sex families. “Family” in STATES OF UNION, may be as few as two individuals who are in a committed relationship and live as a social unit. These units may include pets and may have biological, fostered, or adopted children.

Homosexuality exists in every community, and crosses religious, ethnic and socioeconomic boundaries. And yet, there is often a tendency for the media to show a single, unflattering visual depiction of gay men and women – and an equal tendency for gay men and women to search for an accurate representation of themselves within this single image.

Throughout its history, portraiture has been used to memorialize family lineage and honor family patriarchs and matriarchs. While heterosexual families have a pronounced and illustrated legacy, for the most part gay unions have not been acknowledged in the ledgers of history. Through STATES OF UNION, same-sex families will be able to claim their place in history and within the centuries-old legacy of portraiture. For the gay and lesbian community this project holds relevance because same-sex “families” often do not recognize themselves as a family unit. The very act of sitting for a family portrait in which all members are present, serves as an acknowledgement -- to the individuals themselves -- that they indeed are a family.

Without marriage licenses and the other prerogatives of legally recognized unions, present-day same-sex families struggle to have their very existence noticed and documented. In a country that does not yet fully recognize same-sex families legally or culturally, the visual record provided by STATES OF UNION may be one of the few formal acknowledgments of these relationships. In 100 years, these photographs will likely be the one of the only formal documentation that these families existed.

The finished project will consist of one hundred photographs from diverse populations and locations across the United States. The photographs, with commentary, will become a published work. A traveling exhibition of the photographs will tour galleries, museums as well as alternative and public spaces in small towns and big cities around the United States. STATES OF UNION will thus reach a wider audience than many traditional art exhibitions. The objective is to produce a work of art that has a social impact and to affect both the subjects of the work and the audiences who see the work.