Elle Perez, "The Outliers"

ELLE PÉREZ
Born in the Bronx, New York, 1988
Currently lives and works in New York City

From the series “The Outliers”

Enakai Cutting Their Hair; Atlanta, Georgia
2011
Digital print

Pronoun Workshop; Dowelltown, Tennessee
2011
Digital print

Reilly’s Breast; Tuscaloosa, Alabama
2011
Digital print

“The Outliers” series began when photographer Elle Pérez, “in the midst of an intense gender identity crisis,” arrived in rural Tennessee at a “Faerie” sanctuary for seekers of radical queer community. Pérez was inspired there by people freely embracing identities between and beyond the male/female gender binary. “I found reading the stories and seeing the faces of others who were like me,” the artist said, “to be extremely important in my own self-identification and maturing process."

Later that year, Pérez set out across the United States to meet and document young people who identify as genderqueer. While making the portraits of Enakai, Reilly, and others, Pérez took time to connect with them and learn their personal histories. Printing the results in sumptuous color, Pérez emphasizes the particularized beauty of each person and of the objects and environments through which they self-define.

Student Committee Selection 2014–2015
Contemporary Art Purchasing Program
The Adele H. Stamp Student Union—Center for Campus Life