Vaughan Larsen, Myles Loftin, and Texas Isaiah – are the three recipients of Getty Images’ first-ever LGBTQ+ Stories Creative Bursary.
“We are thrilled to recognise Vaughan Larsen, Myles Loftin and Texas Isaiah as three incredibly talented emerging photographers who are actively using their creativity to capture and celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community,” said Andy Saunders, Creative Bursary program director and Getty Images’ Senior Vice President of Creative Content. “Our mission is to move the world with imagery and LGBTQ+ Stories aims to do just that—by celebrating the visual narratives of these communities, and in turn, creating a more realistic and inclusive depiction of the world in which we live.”
Each of the three winners will be granted a sum of either $10,000, $7000, or $3000 to further their craft of photography and creative efforts to elevate visually inclusive stories of a community that has, for far too long, continued to be under- or misrepresented.
• Vaughan Larsen, a young artist based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who explores issues of identity and relationships at the intersection of queer culture, took first prize with his series, Rites. In addition to receiving his Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Photography and Imaging from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee in May 2019, Larsen recently received the 2019 SPE Student Award for Innovations in Imaging as well as the After School Special 2019 Grilled Cheese Grant and the 2017-2018 Joy of Giving Fellowship from Imaging America / White House Millennium Council.
In Rites, Larsen aimed to change perceptions and elevate awareness: “My goal for this project was to show people outside of the LGBTQ+ community the perspective of living as a queer person, where you’re not as welcomed to partake in the typical image of the American Dream.”
• Second-place bursary recipient Myles Loftin is a New York-based photographer and rising senior studying photography at Parsons School of Design. Endeavoring to affect positive change, Loftin’s work spans portraiture, documentary and fashion photography, often exploring themes related to blackness, identity and the representation of marginalized individuals.
• Awarded third, Texas Isaiah is a visual narrator based in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland and New York City, whose work invites Black and Brown LGBTQIA+ individuals to participate in the photographic process. Through a collective effort, he aims to examine the importance of legacy, self-empowerment, emotional justice, protection and topophilia and ideally shift away from dominant narratives.