Young Professionals 14–19 Honorary Mention
With this photo series the artist wanted to draw attention to the discrimination of queer people. For a long time, members of the lgbtq+ community were and still are discriminated against or persecuted. Being part of the community himself, he felt responsible to raise awareness. Every day, queer people have to prove themselves, especially if they don’t fall into the stereotypical gender image. In general, femininity is often seen as a bad thing, a weakness. Men are not allowed to show femininity in public, otherwise they are seen as inferior. To this day, these prejudices persist, and many queer people have to suffer from them. In my photo series, I want to expose stereotypes and show the viewer their own ignorance.
How do we react to depictions of a person who embodies multiple gender characteristics? And why? Emil wants to explore these questions in his works and thus stimulate discussions. Through exaggeration and a certain parodization, he tries to ridicule these gender requirements to show how unrealistic they can be.
