‘Queer Americana’ Pt. 14: DB
By James Dillon III & DB
We reached out to Maine-based photographer James Dillon III earlier this year about running their ‘Queer Americana’ series on CQ and we’re proud to finally be able to bring it to you.
Photographed on a road trip across the country, Dillon’s series pushes buttons by setting up curious contrasts and juxtapositions, sometimes subtle and sometimes not. It’s a reflection of how queerness feels in our own personal spaces versus how it feels in the larger world around us—it is simultaneously familiar and foreign.
‘Queer Americana’ is a reminder of how one size doesn’t fit all. And yet, each of us must find ways of being in the world and ways to feel comfortable in our own skin. It is, at times, challenging.
Welcome to #queeramericana
Please read Dillon’s primer for the series, visit their website, or consider becoming a Patreon subscriber.
To enjoy the latest from this series, subscribe to the Queer Americana YouTube channel, where you can view episodes of the new Queer Americana docuseries from James Dillon III and Ryan Vachenzo.
“Growing up in the 80s as a gay kid, there were many people who wanted to keep us down. Gays were considered freaks. “Faggot” was used as a joke in popular movies like Back to the Future. The Reagan administration ignored the AIDS crisis. AIDS was considered a justified curse for being gay.
Loving yourself was an act of political courage. At the time, I didn’t have that courage and spent years hiding my true self from the world. I hid my true self so convincingly that I even believed I was straight for 8 years.
It wasn’t until I moved to NYC In the 90s, and was exposed to so many different people that I started to realize how freeing it was to be my authentic self.”
-DB
James Dillon III is an artist living in Portland, Maine. A self-styled Renaissance Queer, they use photography, writing, and performance art to explore, celebrate, and challenge the world around them.