Research has shown that elders in the LGBTQ+ community are often more likely to experience loneliness, exclusion, and fear when turning to health and welfare services.
The men pictured in this series are all over seventy and identify as gay.
They agreed to share their stories, and over many hours, conversations unfolded around aging and dreams, love, exclusion, and fear. Out of these exchanges, the series took shape.
Created collaboratively in makeshift studios built in the subjects’ homes, each portrait attempts to visually represent a thought, a story, or a fragment of an inner world. A world often kept behind transparent curtains, out of fear of being hurt.
Photography was used to explore the space between the constructed and the unexpected, between what is thought and what is felt, and between what is hidden and what feels safe to reveal.
About Oded Wagenstein
For over a decade, photographer Oded Wagenstein has worked in close collaboration with communities and individuals around the world, exploring themes of aging, memory, and social exclusion.
His work has been published by National Geographic, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, BBC, and Vogue, among others. His photographs have been exhibited internationally, including at the National Portrait Gallery in London, UK, and the United Nations in New York, USA. [Official Website]
