Questions of identity arise in JJ Levine’s McCord Museum show Queer Photographs

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“It’s a fact that a lot of the images we see in the media of queer and trans people are created by people who are not queer or trans,” said JJ Levine. “What you get is a lot of sensationalizing and exoticizing. I want to help counteract that.”

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Consider the job done. The work of the Montreal-based photographer, 39, is showcased at the McCord Museum in JJ Levine: Queer Photographs, a revelatory exhibition that achieves a rare blend of the documentary and the intentional in its portrayal of contemporary LGBTQ+ lives. Of the many things this show is, sensationalistic is not among them.

The 52 large color photographs are arranged into three distinct thematic groups. Queer Portraits is part of an ongoing series of domestic tables featuring the people from the artist’s queer-identified social and family circle; Alone Time depicts intimate moments — some very intimate indeed — between heterosexual couples who, on closer inspection, are revealed to be the same person dressed as both male and female; Switch features paired portraits of couples whose gender alternates from one shot to the next. Again, all models are the artist’s friends, and the sense of ease they exude in front of the camera is a reminder that one of the hallmarks of the best portrait photographers is their ability to earn the trust of their subjects.

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“That’s true,” said Levine. “But in this case that trust did not have to be earned. I already had it.”

Something likely to strike viewers is that nearly all these subjects are looking straight at the camera.

“That is a very deliberate, directed choice,” said Levine.

Few if any smiles are in evidence here; at first glance, these people’s expressions might appear overly somber. In not much time at all, though, they can be seen for what they are: frank, unsparing, unapologetic, proud.

The domestic interiors are, in effect, set-designed by Levine. With their bright colors and period furnishings, and the vintage clothing sported by the subjects, the images are steeped in a 1970s Quebec kitsch aesthetic that the photographer candidly admits to loving.

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So well executed are the compositions that, for this reporter on the day of the show’s media preview, a viewing involved a series of double and triple takes. Even when the technical methodology has been explained, the visual sleight of hand — eschewing digital manipulation in favor of a meticulous and all but imperceptible layering together of multiple negatives — is at times downright uncanny. This is especially true in Switch. Does Levine enjoy the thought that many viewers are likely to be momentarily wrong-footed?

“Absolutely. I want people to spend time with the images, and call into question their own identities. And regardless of how they identify, I want them to feel something. I love the idea that people are being forced — hopefully — to ask themselves things like: ‘What kind of body am I attracted to? What kind of people am I attracted to?’ ”

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Another theme that emerges in the show, confirmed by Levine, is queer culture reinventing ways to grow old.

“For me, one of the things being queer has meant is freedom from a prescribed life trajectory — marriage, children, home ownership. Even though many of my friends have children, we’re all trying to do it in such a way that’s not constrained by those expectations. It’s important to celebrate that.

“I have a child, and I want to raise my child in a way that’s free from these normative ideas. She’s six, and we used gender-neutral pronouns for her until she told us how she identifies, which was last summer, when she said, ‘I am a girl!’ Some people will say, ‘I think it’s so amazing how you accept your child’s gender identity,’ but other people will just say, ‘Sure. What’s the big deal?’ ”

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Unsurprisingly, Levine is not a big fan of one particular contemporary social phenomenon: the gender reveal party.

“I find that idea very disconcerting. What it’s doing is revealing the genitals of the child, and personally I don’t know why anybody would want to do that. We don’t have to know what’s underneath anyone’s clothes. It’s actually none of anybody’s business.”

For some, Levine’s work will bring the kind of identity affirmation that happens too rarely in mainstream public spaces. For others, this will be a show about the reconsidering of assumptions, the questioning of received attitudes. Even more than in most exhibitions, repeat viewing is recommended: make two or three circuits, see and re-see these images with the same focus evident on the faces of the subjects, and the intent will become very clear.

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Does Levine have any advice for visitors for whom exposure to the lives and ideas presented in the show may be a new experience?

“A point of entry into my work could be the universal themes that I treat: love, loss, friendship, community,” he said. “I think there are aspects that can be relatable to any audience.”

AT A GLANCE

JJ Levine: Queer Photographs continues through Sept. 18 at the McCord Museum, 690 Sherbrooke St. W. For full information on tickets, hours, and events and programs related to the exhibitionvisit musee-mccord.qc.ca.

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