We all stand at the head of an ever-expanding past, and share a visual history that informs how we value ourselves and others. I started this body of work, quite simply, because I felt there was a need for it. By referencing art history & Queer history I hoped that this work would highlight the beauty that, for the most part, had been left out of the collective narrative. Images of the young adonis have created standards of beauty and masculinity that have dominated most perceptions of Gay men. It is also true that for centuries portrait, especially portraiture of men, has been relegated to the powerful and conformed to society’s standards of beauty. It is this visual history that I confront with my work. In these images I try to achieve a similar sense of authority by adopting gestures and structural formats typically found in portraits of sitters with great power and status. By doing so, I hope to reclaim an image of Queerness as an image of strength. The end result forms a new visual typology from which the viewer can navigate through the work, and hopefully reconsider the way they look at themselves and this around them.