Goodkin

States of Union by Alix Smith

Alix Smith is a photographer with a vision. But it's the vision that she didn't have, as a girl growing up in in Manhattan's Upper East Side, that motivated her to create States of Union, a series of color portraits that features gay and lesbian couples and families. 

"I never really knew you could grow up and be gay. In my world as a kid, it was taken for granted that one day you'd get married and have kids and that was life's plan."

Then there's that old adage that goes something like this, "plans, my friend, are made to be broken."  

Alix turned out to be a lesbian, and has now made it one of her life's missions to make sure that the kids of today have images that positively reflect same sex unions. Her photographs are beautiful and compelling, and sometimes even vaguely familiar. When looking at a group of them, there is a certain feeling of nostalgia, but on a more subliminal level. That's because Alix poses her subjects to reflect the moods and ambiance of classical paintings, ones we've most likely glanced in books or museums before laying eyes on her work. It's a subtle but very clever way of establishing a posture for a group of people who have repeatedly been denied equal rights.  

After opening at the Morgan Lehman Gallery in New York last year, States of Union came to Los Angeles this year with Manifest Equality earlier this month, and will continue to travel for the next few years to small towns and big cities. Along the way, Smith will continue to add more images and accumulate a larger body of portraits. This has been made largely possible by the NYFA.

When Prop 8 rolls around again to be voted on, Alix will have done her part to make sure there are pleny of positive images to fight the opposition!

"The reason I chose these types of set ups is because old portraits are basically all about the glorification of self and legacy. They're about putting your best foot forward."  

With Alix's own marriage to her wife Camilla in August, it's pretty clear that she's done just that! 

To see more of Alix's Photographs and learn when States of Union will be touring again, visit her at AlixSmith.com. Also visit the States of Union website.