BUTCH IS NOT A DIRTY WORD

‘Butch Is Not A Dirty Word’ is a photographic series exploring masculinity as embodied by queer individuals. It asserts Butch visibility, challenging cultural erasure and misrepresentation. Each image is a declaration—an unspoken dialogue between presence, posture, and gaze—embracing a masculinity that is quietly powerful and defiantly balanced.

Each portrait session begins with conversation, inviting subjects to reflect on their masculinity—not just physically, but emotionally, spiritually, and psychologically. These reflections guide the process, making each portrait a shared act of self-representation rather than mere documentation. I meet people where they are—stepping into their sanctuaries, spaces where they feel most themselves. In that intimacy, something unfolds—a dialogue of setting, conversation, shared identity, and trust. Together, we create more than an image; we shape a presence, a history, a truth.

At its core, this series insists on visibility and reclaims space long denied. Through these portraits, Butchness emerges—not as a relic of the past, but as a thriving, evolving identity reshaping society’s understanding of gender. The work prompts reflection on masculinity—who claims it, how it is expressed, and by whom. At its most powerful, masculinity does not exist in opposition but in dialogue with the full spectrum of gender expression.