Lindsay Morris: You Are You

Artist’s Statement:

You Are You documents an annual weekend summer camp for gender-nonconforming boys and their families. This camp offers a temporary safe haven where children can freely express their interpretations of gender alongside their parents and siblings without feeling the need to look over their shoulders.

In 2007 Lindsay Morris started attending camp with a family member and began documenting what she was witnessing. It was with a great deal of courage in 2012 that the camp parents and children agreed to have selected images published as the cover story of the New York Times Magazine, which jump-started an important and timely dialogue in a public forum. Since then her story has been published in France, Italy, Germany, Israel Australia and Eastern Europe demonstrating a global interest in the predicament of gender variant youth.

Morris will continue this project in November of 2014 with a book published in partnership with Kehrer Verlag. By sharing this unique story, she will reach beyond the confines of the camp to contribute to a dialogue about the crucial role that support plays in the lives of LGBT children.

A lack of understanding of gender identity and the ways in which these children express themselves often leads to discrimination. Through these images the viewer will experience something different: an important moment in history where the first LGBT childhood is being openly expressed with the support of friends and family.

Artist’s Bio:

Sag Harbor, NY

Born and raised in suburban Detroit, Lindsay Morris resides on the East End of Long Island. Her passion for photography began at age 18, when she was given her first camera while spending a year in South Africa as a Rotary Youth Exchange student. Since 2006, she has been photo editor of Edible East End magazine where she documents the food culture on Long Island.

Lindsayâ€™s work has been published in the New York Times Magazine (cover story), GEO Germany and GEO International, Photo District News, Marie Claire, Elle, Internazionale, Haaretz Israel, and Sunday Life Australia and has been featured on photography blogs Fraction, Slate/Behold and abcNews.com. She was a 2013 Critical Mass finalist and was nominated for the 2013 Julia Margaret Cameron Award. Recent exhibitions include a solo show at the Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, CO and the Catherine Edelman Gallery in Chicago. She is currently working on a book documenting a camp for gender-nonconforming boys and their families to be published in 2014 with Kehrer Verlag.

Lindsay studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and holds a BFA from the University of Michigan School of Art.