ARTIST STATEMENT
Jesse Egner
“No Femmes. No Fats”—When I started making profiles on gay dating apps as a teenager, I came across this phrase frequently, branding me and my body as unwelcome within my own community. As a queer individual navigating the labyrinth of the gay dating scene while having a non-normative body and invisible disability, this rejection ignited an internal conflict between my queerness and my body.
“Unaffixed” emerged as a testament to this struggle, initially manifesting as self-portraiture—an act that felt almost self-destructive due to years of body shaming. However, I unearthed a method of visually exploring non-normative queerness through absurdity, humor, and play. The series eventually moved beyond self-portraiture. It began to feel too personal, so I shifted the focus to other queer individuals, with me occasionally stepping into the frame. I rarely arrive with a concrete idea of what the photographs will look like, instead, we work together to create the images in the moment. Set within familiar spaces such as their homes, these photoshoots are spontaneous and playful, and we primarily use elements from their environment. This series not only cultivates a sanctuary of queer collaboration and play, but also defies the conventional sexualized gaze prevalent in contemporary queer photography.
Despite living in New York City, my work resists metronormativity—the notion that queer expression is confined to major city centers. By venturing into small towns and rural territories, such as my hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, I seek to celebrate the vibrant and often overlooked queer communities thriving in these locales.
My photographs exist in a realm of ambiguity, in between reality and fantasy. They are not complete or rigid definitions, but rather fluid reflections of the transitional space of queerness. Spontaneity, collaboration, intimacy, play, humor, and absurdity all permeate throughout the series, echoing the boundless dynamism of non-normative queer existence.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Jesse Egner
Jesse Egner is a queer artist and educator currently based in Brooklyn, New York. Often taking the form of playful and absurd portraiture of himself and other individuals, his work explores themes such as queerness, body image, collaboration, humor, and play. He received his BA from Millersville University of Pennsylvania in 2016 and his MFA from Parsons School of Design in 2020. His work has been exhibited and published globally and is included in the permanent collection at the Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts. He is a 2022 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Photography and has recently participated in residencies at the Santa Fe Art Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico; Bunnell Street Arts Center in Homer, Alaska; Studio Vortex in Arles, France; and Yaddo in Saratoga Springs, New York.
Website: jesseegner.com
Instagram: @jesseegner
