Photographs for Queer London

By Tim Boddy, MA Photojournalism & Documentary Photography (2020 Alumni), London College of Communication.

Queer London – A Guide to the City’s LGBTQ+ Past and Present by journalist and writer Alim Kheraj takes a tour through London’s vibrant and colourful LGBTQ+ scene and queer culture. I provided all the photographs for the book.

My involvement with the project began when I conducted my final major project (titled Fabulous Ones) while studying MA Photojournalism & Documentary Photography, however I didn’t know this at the time. Fabulous Ones is a multidisciplinary piece that maps queer space in London, in what is a rapidly evolving scene.

Alim recommended me to the publisher, ACC, as he had seen my project and it shared many similarities with the scope of what would be in Alim’s book, and ACC also agreed. It was a perfect fit; without having this body of work on queer space from the MA course, it may well not have happened. ACC essentially briefed that I recreate the style of portraits from Fabulous Ones. I said yes in a heartbeat upon Alim’s request. In terms of advice, this is a case of shooting what you both love and know while studying, and following that I was fortunate enough to be commissioned (and paid!) for something I am passionate about.

I worked closely with Alim following this - we both have in-depth knowledge of queer life in London, and it was incredibly useful and fun to collaborate with him on what was to be included photographically speaking. We had an extraordinary amount of data on various spreadsheets; the challenge was whittling down what to include. Diversity and representation were always on our minds.

The project was initially delayed due to the pandemic, and it continued to present many challenges. Over the late summer of 2020, I photographed a variety of LGBTQ+ venues, locations, and places of interest; however many of the venues in particular were not operating as they normally would due to Covid restrictions, and some weren’t even open. This of course impacted what the project would look like. On some shooting days it was even a little sad - seeing so many of these vibrant, exciting spaces closed for business. Communication between myself, Alim, and the publisher was vital on this front, and finding work-a-round solutions..

Portraiture was a little more straightforward, however the work features more outdoor locations for portraits than there would be in normal times. I was thrilled to photograph so many iconic queer people, people who have had such a positive impact on the LGBTQ+ community and whom I admire greatly. From Olly Alexander and his commitment to mental health in the LGBTQ+ community, Munroe Bergdorf’s activism on trans rights, to Andrew Lumsden - who joined Gay Liberation Front in London in 1970 which ultimately led to the creation of ‘Pride’.

Most creatives I’m sure suffer from self-doubt or existential angst about their work and why they’re doing it - but this whole experience reminded me of why I do what I do. My own personal brief to myself was to reflect the passion of Alim’s articulate, colourful writing in the photographs. This is partly why many venues and locations are bathed in golden hour sunlight, alongside a focus on neon details for night-time images.

Following this body of work, I feel more confident pitching to publishers and other editorial outlets. I would recommend any student currently studying photography to do this and to be smart about it, do your research, and see what outlet would be a good fit for your own work. In terms of pitching, less can sometimes be more; a handful of thoughtful, carefully considered pitches to editors is arguably more preferable to a scattergun approach.

Related Links

• AAC Publishers
• Queer London Publication to purchase
• Queer London publication press release (PDF)
• Visit Tim Boddy's website

Post-Grad Stories

A thriving online magazine of our postgraduate student voices sharing thought-provoking experiences, practices, thoughts and articles about what matters to them.

Download the PDF Guide to writing articles for Post-Grad Stories

Want to write an article? Get in touch with the Post-Grad Community team PGCommunity@arts.ac.uk