'Double Lives,' Daniella Zalcman Photo Series, Documents LGBT Ugandan Activists
From photographer Daniella Zalcman comes an incredible photo series that documents some of the most prominent activists living and working in Uganda.
Called "Double Lives," this series is past of a larger project called "Kuchus," a Swahili word appropriated by the Ugandan LGBT community that roughly translates to Western understandings of "queer." "Double Lives" captures each activist through a double exposure, a decision that Zalcman says is both pratically and symbolically important.
In order to better understand this work, HuffPost Gay Voices sat down with Zalcman to get a better understanding of "Double Exposure," her experiences while in Uganda and the lives of these activists.
Amazing slideshow at link.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/15/double-lives-uganda_n_4912324.html?utm_hp_ref=tw
= new reply since forum marked as read
HuffPost Gay Voices: What was the significance of the double exposure aspect of the photos?
Daniella Zalcman: Part of it is practical — even though all of these people are in the public eye and appear in the media regularly, a part of me still wants to obscure identity. A few Ugandan newspapers have a sordid history of publishing the photos, names, and personal details of LGBT Ugandans (one tabloid did this in October 2010 with 100 people, under the headline "HANG THEM"
. Since the bill passed, that's started happening again, and this time many of the photos are being taken from other news outlets. I don't want to contribute to that.
And symbolically, I think it's a statement on how all of these activists live in a different kind of obscurity — having to move from house to house any time a landlord finds out that they're LGBT, avoiding all forms of public transportation because boda (motorcycle taxi) drivers are known to beat gay passengers. Even the most "out" activists still have to hide in many ways.
