five dresses [RECLAIM WORTH]

A divine conversation about gender identity set against a studio’s ‘behind-the-schemes’ environment. Five individuals improvise a dance in front of my lens whilst posing for a fashion photography session. Amy, Giorgia, Robita, Suren and Alexie are channelling society’s cold and rigid patriarchal expectations of predominant expressions for gender representations. Their raw, undirected moves accentuate their discomfort reflecting the distress and feeling of ’shameness’ one might experience upon their come out as a member of LGBTQ+ community. Simultaneously, they are embodying a varied of mainstreaming traits of the binary (i.e. masculine/feminine) societal accepted constructs. Characteristic features in the film are the harsh surrealistic effects with figures to be shifting and blending with each other and within the studio environment. This, set the context for the visual dialect that the five individuals are having about their experiences while their emotions flowing from numbness through to agony to self-love and acceptance. The film is synchronised and empowered by a music especially combined by a young producer, singer and song writer, Miltos. He combines known songs, such as ’Vogue’ by Madonna, and ’Queen’ by Todrick as well as his own music, creating a special chaotic tension that eventually concludes with a heavenly climax. The collection of dresses is a creation of Michalis Pantelidis. All textiles and garments are made out of found waste materials using digital and hand embroidery. The dresses reflect five different stages that Michalis experienced in his course of coming out as a gay man: Arguing over predominant masculine stereotypes , The Rejection from the Church, The Identity Crysis, The healing from the Trauma, and The Celebration of Authentic Self.