Contacts is an intimate glimpse at lesbian community in San Francisco in the ‘90s through the archive of photographer Phyllis Christopher. Belonging to a politicised tradition of documentary photography, Christopher’s handprinted and tinted images reflect how the camera participated in the performance of queer identities and feminist politics in the club and in the streets. Amid the connected crises of HIV/AIDS and gentrification, Christopher and her collaborators answered the historic absence of representations of lesbian life with an abundance of images showing acts of sexual intimacy and public protest – a community defiantly taking up space and taking care of their own. An ethic of consent frames Christopher’s images as photographer and subject negotiate what it means to be shown and seen as lesbian, both then and now.

Contacts is curated by Laura Guy.