Price: $9.99
(as of Dec 04, 2022 04:52:38 UTC – Details)
From the Publisher
Meet a few of the couples from Holding Space
Grayson (He/They) & Grey (She/He/They)
LOS ANGELES, CA
GREY: I don’t think anyone could’ve imagined me with an ex-Mormon, white, trans, masc angel from Idaho, but it makes perfect sense. Although our life together hasn’t been and won’t be easy, it does exist. I love life with Grayson. I’m more like the person I always aspired to be with him.
GRAYSON: It took me a great deal of time to consciously register my identity, and it took me some time after that to realize my extreme discomfort with body/gender. Still, when we met I was in rough shape, but I think she related to that herself. Really, I think we both needed to care and be cared for. A perfect match.
Garrett (He/Him) & Jay (He/Him)
SANTA FE, NM
JAY: I came out because of Garrett. He was the first man I ever loved, and in order to keep him in my life, I thought I should do what he wanted and come out before I was ready. Hiding had always been a habit of mine, and the fear of losing him did nothing but build my walls higher.
GARRETT: His secret calls for compromise, for compassion went completely unnoticed by me as I barreled through him with the unfailing knowledge that I was making his life better…Love requires the radical courage needed to tell the truth and genuine gratitude for the myriad of ways in which we are different.
Joel (He/Him) & Justin (He/Him)
LOS ANGELES, CA
JOEL: A few years ago, we invented the concept of a love ricochet: when you’re having a great day, your happiness and excitement about the world radiates and bounces around and hits someone and you love them extra. And when you love someone, it radiates and bounces and hits the world and you’re extra happy and excited about your day.
JUSTIN: At first our relationship felt easy, filling each other in, creating one whole. But we soon learned that those parts of each of us that felt empty were room for self-growth. And year after year we rise to the challenge of accepting our and each other’s new shapes, choosing to love each other again, and again.
Alyss (He/They) & Angelica (She/Her)
LOS ANGELES, CA
ALYSS: During quarantine in 2020, I realized that I didn’t hate myself or my identity. I had just been acting under the influence of people who think it is an abomination for me to exist. Since being with Angelica I am the happiest that I have ever been.
ANGELICA: As a first-generation Filipina American whose parents wagered everything for a better life in foreign lands, I was given a clear sense of my path in life. Being gay wasn’t—couldn’t possibly be—part of the plan. At long last, I have given myself the chance to live authentically as me, which opened up the possibility of one day blooming alongside Alyss.
Jo (They/Them) & Zac (They/Them)
BROOKLYN, NY
JO: We’ve both had some bad experiences in different spaces, which has made us very careful about figuring out our own dynamic, trying not to be idealistic about it. We talk a lot about race and gender, but increasingly it feels like those things slip away, like we lose ourselves in the nuance of being together, which is its own creative thing that we are figuring out in real time.
ZAC: At the level of intimacy we strive for… the ideological matrix of gender is not only problematic but so obsolete as to be without any merit of consideration, at least between us. What can I say other than it is incredibly life-affirming when Jo and I are able to achieve the level of coordination needed to experience the sensation of “them,” and that it helps when I say “I love them” or “I trust them.”
Juan (He/Him) & Tyler (He/Him)
JOSHUA TREE, CA
JUAN & TYLER: We met in a dark warehouse under a strobe light, drowned in hard techno. It was an angry time. A few days before the 45th’s inauguration. Since then, step by step, we’ve continued to walk forward by moving toward each other. Over our five years together, we have slowly learned to let each other see the parts we had never shown anyone else. Letting go of unspoken expectation allows us to navigate our relationship with compassion and kindness. We understand that we, like love, are imperfect—mostly beautiful, but sometimes ugly. Working through the ugly times has brought a level of deep trust within ourselves and each other that we had not experienced until now. It’s magical.
A Statement from Ryan Pfluger
I’ve been traveling around the country since 2020, photographing and interviewing LGBTQIA+, interracial couples, capturing their power, vulnerability, and playfulness. I photographed over 120 couples, had a few emotional breakdowns, and used over a thousand rolls of film over sixteen months. I’m very proud to share these photographs and stories with you and to give marginalized people control over their narratives.
“Stunning, open, and intimate, [Ryan Pfluger’s images] illustrate the vastness of the LGBTQIA+ community, offering representation that remains scarce in this world and creating a place to just be.”—Elliot Page, actor, director, and producer
“These portraits draw, one by one, a vivid and loving line through all of that, and by the end, I was suffused with a quiet awe and happiness, even hope. Pfluger is a photographer of rare talent, and this book is a masterpiece.”—Alexander Chee, bestselling author and journalist
Publisher : Princeton Architectural Press (November 8, 2022)
Language : English
Hardcover : 224 pages
ISBN-10 : 1648961576
ISBN-13 : 978-1648961571
Item Weight : 2.2 pounds
Dimensions : 8.25 x 0.85 x 10.3 inches
