Impulse Group New York and Photographer/Creative Director LaQuann Dawson have announced the launch of Our Light Through Darkness – an art book that serves as a visual retrospective of the queer community at this current moment in history.
When conceptualizing how they wanted to produce their annual fundraiser in the midst of COVID-19, Impulse Group New York landed on the idea of creating something tangible as a means of passing down history.
“When we were thinking of ideas, the idea of a family photo album popped into my head,” says DeMarkis Bonner, Impulse Group New York’s Director of Operations. “A historical reference point that not only we could go back to and reference, but that people after us could as well. It put me in the mindset of how my grandmother used to collect photos and have me help her put each photo in an album; I don’t think we do that anymore, which is a shame.”
Our Light Through Darkness articulates the importance of queer healing and visibility through seven themes – Bold, Family, Fluid, Kinky, Love, Positive, and Revolutionary. The notion that despite the darkness of everything that’s happening in the world, the queer community is still here, still present, and still matters is highly evident throughout the book’s pages. For instance, LGBTQ+ people of color routinely take the backseat in terms of recognition in the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. This is despite the fact that BLM is inherently a movement sustained by a politics of Blackness that is, as its founders Patrisse Khan-Cullers, Opal Tometi, and Alicia Garza remind us, is unapologetically feminist, womanist, and queer.
Our Light Through Darkness ensures that Black queer people are seen, accountable and counted, with visual representation of the community in those spaces through photography.
“2020 has been a year of much uncertainty and dismay,” says Dey Armbrister, Impulse Group New York’s Director of Advocacy. “We’ve witnessed thousands of lives lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic, countless Black lives—including those within our LGBTQIA+ community—being taken due to police brutality and systemic racism, and the fall of our economy, with millions struggling to keep afloat after business closures and job losses. In the spirit of our year’s theme of ‘transparency,’ we challenged the community to exude authenticity through owning one’s truths, unique qualities, and identities. Our Light Through Darkness personifies these truths as being a form of resistance through even the darkest hour. This is a visual manifesto for queer liberation, acceptance, and infinite visibility. This is our love letter to you.”
“What you are about to witness is a series of images and stories collected from queer artists across NYC and beyond,” says LaQuann Dawson regarding Our Light Through Darkness. “It portrays erotic self-portraiture, HIV survival stories, poems about sex and love, joyous illustrations, and so much more. My hope is that this book will help further immortalize us and serve as proof that we exist and that we will continue to exist. I hope that our visibility will show queer people all over that they are not alone and they do not have to be. I hope that the artists involved continue to exercise their talents and share their stories.”
You can get a copy of One Light Through Darkness by making a $35 donation that will benefit LGBTQ+ community partners Destination Tomorrow and GLITS, inc. You can make your donation online.
