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Developments 10 December 2021 1 min read

PHOTOGRAPHY: Ugo Woatzi’s “Chameleon” Series Explores the Dualities of Queer Existence.

   Bloom © Ugo Woatzi
Bloom © Ugo Woatzi

French photographer Ugo Woatzi’s ongoing photographic series Chameleon is an exploration of all the “in between” experiences queer people navigate. 

   No face © Ugo Woatzi
No face © Ugo Woatzi

Chameleon is a photographic series about hiding and revealing. This duality becomes a metaphor of the little lizard that hides itself in plain sight. It is a narrative exploring masculinities and spaces beside the heteronormative structure. The still frame evokes the love, hope and fear of people who exist outside these constructs that can be suffocating. I create my images through evocations of the personal and collective experiences of my community,” says the photographer in LensCulture.

   Just chill © Ugo Woatzi
Just chill © Ugo Woatzi
   Abdo © Ugo Woatzi
Abdo © Ugo Woatzi

“His concealment of faces and identities evoke the sense of fear, censorship and stifling experienced by queer communities across the globe. Ugo invites us to consider and celebrate a range of masculinities, performative bodies, psyches, and experiences; exploring the idea of ‘visibility’ as one fraught with both fear and excitement,” writes Michelle Harris on the Woatzi’s official website.

  Camouflage © Ugo Woatzi
Camouflage © Ugo Woatzi
  Mask © Ugo Woatzi
Mask © Ugo Woatzi