Belonging to a politicised tradition of documentary photography, Phyllis Christopher’s hand printed and tinted images reflect how the camera participated in the performance of queer identities and feminist politics in the club and in the streets.
Contacts marks the first major institutional survey of Christopher’s work, which she produced while living in San Francisco between 1988 and 2003. Her archive offers insight into expressions of lesbian sexuality and queer politics during a period of heightened homophobic violence and state censorship amid the AIDS crisis in the US. Pairing images depicting moments of sexual intimacy alongside documents of LGBTQ+ protest in the street, Contacts explores the ways that visual representation and political activism are rendered inseparable through Christopher’s lens.
The exhibition coincides with the publication of Christopher’s first monograph Dark Room: San Francisco Sex and Protest, 1988-2003 by Bookworks. The exhibition at BALTIC coincides with Christopher’s solo exhibition at Grand Union in Birmingham and together they represent the artist’s first major retrospective.
For this film Phyllis was interviewed by Laura Guy, curator of Phyllis Christopher: Contacts at BALTIC and editor of Dark Room: San Francisco Sex and Protest, 1988-2003. |