Zoe Perry-Wood has never separated the personal from the political. Her earlier photography, while a student at Mass College of Art in the late 1970s and early 1980s, was of Nicaraguan campesinos harvesting coffee during the Contra war. These photographs were a statement of her own support for the popular overthrow in 1979 of the corrupt Somoza dynasty. Needing to secure a livelihood that social documentary photography would not provide, Zoe went on to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees in social justice education and psychology, enabling her to continue to pursue her love of art and photography. In the past decade she has turned her camera toward communities questioning traditional concepts of gender identity.
In the first body of work presented in NEO, Zoe explores in the Provincetown Carnival parade in both the overt visual boldness (reminiscent of Constantine Manos) and the more subtle hidden moments (reminiscent of Lee Friedlander). From there her work goes to Oaxaca, Mexico and explores a macho culture where once a year men dress like woman in mock weddings as part of traditional religious festivals (a hint of Mary Ellen Mark). Most recently Zoe is exploring the Boston Gay & Lesbian Youth (BAGLY) Prom, where her work has matured and takes on the strongest and clearest personal statement both in the form and content. No longer the street photography style of her mentors Manos, Nixon, or Friedlander, it is now a style of her own. With very direct and sensitive portraits on a stark black background, she draws us into to the nuances of gesture, costume, and body.
Featuring a photographer in 2012 who came of age in the 1970s would often result in a retrospective of their life’s work. Zoe’s work, on the other hand, is neither finished nor winding down. Quite the contrary, after a long commitment to the art and craft of this medium, Zoe is only at the midpoint in an arc of personal and creative discovery. We look forward to seeing the both the complete BAGLY work, featured at Gallery Kayafas in April 2012, and then the next chapter in her explorations of life and photography.
Zoe Perry-Wood is represented by in Boston by Gallery Kayafas.
Artist Statement
My photographs have always been about people. In the context of the greater society, we are each influenced and shaped by the groups we belong to, the groups we choose not to belong to, and the groups we are not allowed to belong to. I am intrigued by how each of us integrates those influences, yielding or resisting to elements of mainstream culture, attaching ourselves to subgroups and creating our own unique selves. We are such a varied and fascinating society with so many subcultures that exist and even thrive beneath the eye level of mainstream society.
The origins of this project began with frequent visits to Provincetown over the past thirty years. Having a gay male childhood friend who lived in Ptown put me in the center of a swirl of gay culture. In my twenties, I met and hung out with drag queen performers and young men who were dying of AIDS at a time before people began living with the disease. This was all happening within the greater context of Ptown’s traditional Portuguese culture and the summer influx of families visiting a popular beach resort. The tension between impending death, outrageous camp, and summer vacation was palpable.
Over the passing decades the political landscape shifted attention from HIV-AIDS to parental rights for gay people, to gay marriage, and most recently to transgender equality. Through it all I developed a deeper confidence in my vision and a sense of urgency about documenting these challenges, this place in history, and what I saw as the resulting expression of unbreakable human spirit. The personal impact of these political shifts influenced my photographic passions; it became much more important to me to know my subjects on a deeper level. With my experiences of several decades as a street photographer, I moved into a more intimate street/studio setting. I developed a portable studio and set it up on the sidelines, not wanting to separate myself from the allure of the street. In this new space I attempted to move fluidly between the spontaneity of the street and the intimacy of portraiture.
Whether in the public forum of a city street, in a person’s private living quarters or in the studio, my aim is to pay enough attention to see whatever people will reveal for me. In small moments that can convey much larger meaning, making photographs has taught me the importance of paying exquisite attention to both the details and the bigger picture. I listen, wait, and watch for meaning in facial expressions, gestures, and interactions that speak volumes about a person, a place, or even a culture, and reveal the forces that define how we are perceived by the world.
The images in this web gallery represent several branches of the same project, developed through both a planned methodology and spontaneity. I had been photographing in Provincetown for more than six years when I took a trip to Oaxaca, Mexico. This journey lead me to several villages where male villagers dressed as brides, performing in mock weddings as part of traditional religious festivals. While the culture of a small village in Mexico is starkly different from an American gay enclave, the similarities are startling. In both situations the people are literally “on parade,” presenting an alternative persona that defies the norm and, for the most part, could not be possible in another place and time. For some, in both countries, this is a fun, one time or annual event that allows the freedom to experiment with transgressing gender norms. For others, it is a brief span of time where they are fully allowed and encouraged to be the person they truly feel they are.
During the same period of time I began photographing youth at the Boston Gay & Lesbian Youth (BAGLY) Prom. BAGLY provides a safe haven for youth who are often, even in these progressive times, outsiders in their own youth culture and who may not yet have a foothold in adult gay culture – if such a thing exists any longer. The yearly BAGLY Prom is an event that attempts to fill the hole that is left when these youth are not allowed to attend, or don’t feel a sense of belonging, at the traditional youth proms in their own high schools.
http://www.zoeperrywood.com/ Zoe Perry Wood is represented by Gallery Kayafas, Boston, MA