January 12 – March 30, 2025
Stas Ginzburg is a multidisciplinary artist based in Brooklyn, NY. He immigrated to the U.S. from Russia as a queer Jewish refugee. In 2006, Ginzburg graduated from Parsons School of Design in NYC, where he studied photography. Since then, his practice has expanded to include sculpture, installation, and performance art. When the protests for racial justice ignited in May 2020, Ginzburg returned to photography to document faces of young activists fighting for Black liberation. He has focused on portrait photography ever since, with an emphasis on the LGBTQIA+ community.
In the fall of 2022, a selection of Ginzburg’s portraits of young queer and trans activists was exhibited at Broward College in Florida. His work was also shown at the Queens Museum and Photoville as part of ‘Live Pridefully, Caribbean Equality Project,’ in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Currently, his photography is on display at the National Portrait Gallery in London as part of ‘Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize’ and Pace University Art Gallery, NY as part of ‘Critical Connections: Protest Photography Past + Present.’
Ginzburg’s images are featured in ‘Revolution Is Love: A Year of Black Trans Liberation,’ a book published by Aperture in the Fall of 2022.
Sanctuary
For the past four years, I have been making portraits of the LGBTQIA+ community during various marches and rallies advocating for the liberation and equality of all oppressed and marginalized peoples. My new series, titled Sanctuary, shifts my focus from the streets to the homes of queer, trans, and non-binary individuals, where they are free to exist in their truth, away from the threat of police violence and the external homophobia and transphobia that remain deeply rooted in our society.
In these new intimate portraits, I highlight the diversity of the queer and trans experience. Abby is the first transgender rabbi and activist from New York City. John is a bisexual young man from Ohio who lost his left eye due to police violence. Jermaine is a queer disabled organizer born with cerebral palsy who rallied hundreds of people to march in support of Black disabled lives in 2020 and 2021. Jeremy fled gender-based violence in their hometown of New Mexico and now lives in a van along the California coast. Pamela is a transgender Latinx sex worker living in Jackson Heights, Queens.
To create these portraits, I spend time with each individual in their living space, engaging in conversation to build trust and understanding. This approach allows me to capture authentic moments that reflect their true selves and the environments they have crafted, giving the viewer an intimate look into the bedrooms and living rooms of the LGBTQIA+ community. The interiors become as important as the people, creating an archive of objects and memorabilia that continue to tell the narrative of the queer and trans experience.
My long-term goal for these photographs is to present them in book form and as a traveling exhibition. I want people from all walks of life to engage with these diverse perspectives of human existence. At this critical time in our country, when trans healthcare and well-being are under attack and are being weaponized for political gain, it is essential for this community representation to exist and be seen.
Jason, 2023
Jason Rodriguez, actor and dancer, with his birds Chichi and Ricki in his childhood bedroom, Washington Heights, NYC, 2023.
Neptunite, 2024
Neptunite, a gender-fluid activist and caretaker, in their living room, Washington Heights, NYC, 2024.
Darian Darling, 2024
Darian Darling, a transgender make-up artist and collector of all things Barbie, in her living room, Central Los Angeles, CA, 2024.
Yves and Banjo, 2024
Yves, a model, singer, and activist, with his foster pit bull Banjo in his studio apartment, Lower East Side, NYC, 2024.
Paris, 2024
Paris L’Hommie, a transgender artist and performer in her basement apartment, Bushwick, Brooklyn, 2024.
John, 2024
John in his bedroom, River North, Chicago, 2024. John was shot in the face with a bean bag round by a sheriff’s deputy during a BLM protest in Cleveland, OH, in May 2020. He lost his left eye, and his eyelid was reconstructed from the skin of his ear.
Rinor, 2023
Rinor, dancer and voguer, in their room, Ridgewood, Queens, 2023.
Abby, 2024
Abby Stein, a transgender rabbi, activist, and author, in her bedroom in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, 2024. Raised as a boy in an Ultra-Orthodox Hasidic community, Abby left at the age of 21 and transitioned three years later.
Adam, 2024
Adam Eli, activist and an award-winning author, in their living room, Greenwich Village, NYC, 2024.
Jermaine, 2024
Jermaine Greaves, founder and organizer of Black Disabled Lives Matter, in his studio apartment, Downtown Brooklyn, 2024. Jermaine was born with cerebral palsy.
Alexey, 2024
Alexey Kim, a photographer from Kazakhstan, in their bedroom, Harlem, NYC, 2024.
West and Grimm, 2024
West, a transgender man, with his cat Grimm in their living room, Kensington, Brooklyn, 2024.
Armana, 2024
Armana, a Pakistani transgender model, DJ, and activist, in her living room, Harlem, NY, 2024.
Qween Jean, 2023
Qween Jean, a transgender costume designer, activist, and founder of Black Trans Liberation Kitchen, in her workroom, Crown Heights, Brooklyn, 2023.
Maxwell, 2023
Maxwell Vice, an artist, activist, and a DJ, with their dog in their bedroom, Bushwick, Brooklyn, 2023.
Pamela, 2023
Pamela, a Latinx transgender sex worker, in her room, Jackson Heights, Queens, 2023.
Keith, 2024
Keith Parris, an amputee model, author, and make-up influencer in his bedroom, Crown Heights, Brooklyn, 2024. Keith was born without a tibia in his left leg.
Euro, 2024
Euro, a transgender fitness coach, in his temporary housing, East Flatbush, Brooklyn, 2024.
Jeremy, 2024
Jeremy Salazar, a non-binary fashion designer and skater, in their mobile home, outside of Malibu, CA, 2024. Jeremy escaped gender-based violence in their hometown in New Mexico and now lives in a van along the California coast.
