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From the founder of Friends of Africa to a bisexual politician, a new exhibition is celebrating "a snapshot of the diversity of island life" – with married lesbians, a transmasculine model, a proud parent, and a disabled Pride committee member taking centre stage.
Express spoke to photographer Nicky Kill, of Pinhole Photography, about the community she met as she prepared the portraits...
Nicky, who normally specialises in event photography, asked Liberate for a backstage pass to Pride 2022.
"It was kind of selfish reasons," she admitted. "Just thinking: 'It's going to be a really colourful day.'
"The photographs are going to brilliant, the parade will be great, and I was into this idea of reportage and just kind of reporting on events as they happen.
"What actually came out of it was a much greater understanding of diversity in out community."
She explained: "I got an access-all-areas pass and they were happy with the work so, when it came to the campaign for 2023, [Liberate] approached me to see if I would like to help them with some campaign photography for a social media web campaign."
The concept for the campaign was spearheaded by creative director Katie Killip, who was recently named one of the UK's top 100 businesswomen, and her branding agency Mantra Brand House.
Nicky was told to capture "all the characteristics of the LGBTQ+ community, as opposed to what maybe previously had been overly represented by gay males".
After receiving a list of names of people who Liberate was planning on working with, Nicky explained how she met with her subjects to get to know them before preparing a photoshoot.
"This was me dipping my toe into portrait photography," she said. "I've learnt a lot in this project."
Initial meetings with every subject allowed her to come in and ask questions.
Meeting trans-masculine model Sam, who spoke about the difficulties of finding swimwear – and in the final product was photographed on the beach – Nicky said she felt "quite naive".
"I'm like: 'I'm really sorry, But I'm interested and curious and I think I need an education. So if I say anything that's inappropriate or out of line, excuse me, because I'm not trying to be offensive.'"
The result was a conversation spanning topics like strapping and sea swimming, and finding swimwear that feels comfortable and appropriate.
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Deputy Louise Doublet – who herself identifies as a bisexual woman – turned up with "a massive pile of literature – books that have helped her", Nicky said.
"I learnt a lot about bisexual politics and struggles that are just applicable to that unique part of the community, neither being judged as gay or straight, depending on which sex of partner you decide to be with.
"She really speaks up for the bisexual community."
Where possible, she and her subjects arranged photoshoots that reflected their personalities – for example photographing drag queen Magical Miley in a supermarket lift.
"I think she's quite an extraordinary character where ordinary meets extraordinary," explained Nicky.
"So we put Miley into this really ordinary backdrop of Grand Marché.
"When I first met them, I met them as Murray. And obviously, what you get with Miley is quite a stark contrast with Murray, and both are absolutely gorgeous personalities.
"So we showed up in Grand Marché and she turned up fully in character, and was absolutely fabulous from start to finish.
"It was after hours, the shop was closed but the staff were restocking the shelves. She was a proper celebrity for the evening."
For Nat and Meg Langlois, who together form Pretty Vegas, the photoshoot that best captured them had to fit into a spare 20 minutes the pair had before a gig.
"But I think the connection in the picture is really nice," said Nicky. "It captures the essence of that relationship quite nicely, I think."
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Speaking about the exhibition, Vic Tanner Davy, CEO of Liberate, said: "We received such lovely comments when Nicky’s work was first shown at Pride in September last year, that we thought it deserved another outing and the opportunity for a wider audience to see the photographs.
"They represent, literally, a snapshot of the diversity of island life in 2023.
"There is Lainah from our relatively new and growing Black African community, and Marta of Portuguese heritage – a community that is several generations old now."
He added that the pictures could look very different in the future – citing for example technology for people with mobility impairments, meaning that the picture of James could look very different in 20 years' time.
Vic said: "The photos of our LGBTQ+ community represent a moment in time where they feel proud to be photographed, something that could change in a heartbeat.
"The photographs have been donated to the collection at the Jersey Archive because we hope they will be of interest to social historians of the future."
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Pictured: Lainah, who works at Voisins, became the poster for the campaign.
When people come to Jersey's Link Gallery, Nicky hopes they will see both the value of the photography and take some quiet time to take in the stories and the people who were a part of it.
"A lot of thought and effort goes on behind the scenes," she said. "Putting the story with the image kind of makes you think differently about the person and the image.
"Because all the stories are quite different and unique, because they're all quite individual characters.
"That's how we ended up with quite a diverse set of photographs at the end of the exhibition."
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