States of Union is a series of color portrait photographs of gay and lesbian couples and families. The large-scale photographs that make up States of Union are loosely based on classical paintings through gesture, color scheme, background and lighting. By drawing upon classical images, the tropes used to promote heterosexual family units are be re-appropriated and reinvented to serve a more expanded view of family. In so doing, the viewer recognizes something familiar about the image, feeling a kinship with families that might otherwise look and feel unrecognizable.

During childhood and adolescence one formulates one's identity through images, people and media. As I was coming out, I began to look for representations that felt familiar and akin to the parts of myself with which I was already comfortable and familiar. But the photographs I encountered were limited mostly to parades and protests, and there were no paintings or sculptures to reference. Gay and lesbian protagonists available in films and on television either turned out to be “straight,” died a drug-induced death, or were murdered - victims of a hate crime. Not only did this lack of representation make me feel isolated and alone, but it also reinforced stereotypes and perpetuated homophobic attitudes and my own internal struggle. I asked myself time and again: "Where are the people like me?"

The opportunity to see oneself – to have a visual representation of the possibility of what one might become - is a privilege long denied to gay and lesbian individuals; this is a lack that my project seeks to remedy. By photographing gay and lesbian couples and families from across the United States, I hope to create images that are deeply resonant with straight and gay alike.