Interview | Genevieve Gates: Documenting joy is a form of resistance
Genevieve Gates by Levi (@far.out.orbit on Instagram)
Genevieve Gates (She/her) is a queer film photographer originally from the U.S. who has lived in Glasgow for the last 3 years.
At the heart of her practice is the belief that photography is an act of witnessing, a profound privilege to be present with someone’s expression and to be trusted to capture it.
She recently held her first solo exhibition, Very Silly/Very Serious, in Glasgow’s SaltSpace Gallery. A portrait-based film photography project that explores the duality of creative self-expression. Genevieve’s background in social sciences comes through in her work as she captures the authentic form and the story of her subjects.
Disobedient spoke with Genevieve to learn more about the project, her wider photography practice, and inspirations.
Q: How did you start in photography?
A: I was given my first camera at 13 after pestering my parents to let me get one for Christmas. I fell in love, I took photos of everything. I was always drawn to taking portraits of people, so I started my first photography business when I was 17. I was mainly doing family photos, senior portraits, and engagement shoots. At that time, I had a DSLR and next to no idea what I was doing; I just knew I loved taking photos.
When I went to uni I stopped pursuing the business, and instead focused on my other interests. For the next 10 years, I was always the photo-taker for all my friends, whether it be on an iPhone or a digital camera. I always felt drawn to capturing people and places, and saw opportunities to capture moments all around me.
When I moved to Scotland in 2022, I didn't bring a digital camera with me (which I now regret). I was taking all of my nature and travel photos on an iPhone, but I never felt like I could capture the feeling correctly on an iPhone. It was the beginning of 2024 that I decided to buy a film camera, and it's evolved from then.
Q: What inspires your work and your approach to photography?
A: There's a few different things that I would say inspire me, it depends on the context. In my personal travel and nature photography, I’m inspired by light, contrast, and focal points. I am very inspired by serendipity, where a photo comes together magically. I usually trust my gut and shoot from the hip; with that you can sometimes catch a magical moment. Other times, you see a potential shot and you have to wait and see what happens.
In my portraiture, I am inspired by color, texture, framing, and illuminating the subject in a clear way. Oftentimes, I will speak with the person I photograph and learn more about them, their needs and interests, and sometimes a story will emerge. I find myself consistently drawn to shots that feel liminal, almost as if you’re observing a personal moment. I like to allow the framing and posing to tell a story without any words. The more photos I have taken of people, the more I realise my work is as much inspired by the connections I make as it is by the photos themselves.
Q: Why film instead of digital?
A: There is something special about the element of mystery with film. Something where it feels quite permanent, a snapshot of a moment in time. In digital photography, you can take multiples of the same shot, whereas with film, you have to be intentional with each shot because there is a finite amount. Because of this, I find myself having to think purposefully about each pose, the lighting, and composition. This is incredibly motivating for me to be as creative and purposeful as possible in my work. I want the client to feel they got the most they could from the session’s photos, and I want to say that I used each shot meaningfully. Film has a beautiful way of capturing color and light in inspiring and unexpected ways. When I’m photographing, I’m thinking about light, shading, and focus. Once it’s developed, it could look completely different from what I intended. I love the unexpected element of film for that reason.
I don’t edit my work outside of general color balancing and cropping. This is intentional, as on a deeper level, shooting film to me is a counterbalance to the hyper-online and hyper-edited culture we find ourselves in. I think people, especially young people, are overwhelmed by the pressure to perform and attain perfection. Because film is very much “you get what you get”, it’s my small way of capturing the world exactly as it is. It strips away a lot of pressure to edit my work. There is so much beauty, and none of it needs changing.
Q: Can you tell me more about the Very Silly/Very Serious project and how it came about?
A: I think about my interests and passion in photography a fair amount. Where do I want to go? What stories do I want to tell? I am always trying to make connections between my sessions, weaving common threads that feel like they add up to my creative process. In my personal life, I find myself balancing my silly, humorous side and my serious, passionate side on a daily basis. This balance is what keeps me laughing while also keeping me having deep and meaningful conversations.
As I photographed people, I began to notice this pattern in the sessions. When I decided to put on this show, I knew I wanted to have the focus be on creatives, artists, and queer people. This is why all of my models are queer people and/or artists, and many are also trans, neurodivergent, and/or people of colour. This project aims to give them space to be seen fully, not through a lens of trauma or media, but through complexity.
Too often, marginalised people are portrayed in narrow or stereotypical ways and end up flattened into singular emotions or narratives. This exhibition is my attempt to push back against that by offering duality, showing that silliness and seriousness are both valid and essential to how we understand ourselves and each other.
For me, this project is about illuminating the subjects as much as it is about showing my work. On a very personal note, this show was my way of honoring the people I’ve met and places I’ve gone while in Scotland, as I have been forever and deeply changed by my time here.
Q: How do you think your work makes people feel? Both in being photographed by you and in viewing your work?
A: I hope my work makes people feel something in their chest, a feeling of longing or nostalgia or joy. I also hope my work strikes something in them that they see the humanity in others, to become more observant of the world around them. Even in my travel and nature photography, there are often people and stories being told in the photos. I hope that people feel moved to see the stories behind the photo.
I hope those I photograph feel empowered and more connected to themselves. Being photographed is incredibly vulnerable, and there is an element of trust you have to have between the model and the photographer. It’s the greatest honor to be able to be trusted to capture someone’s photos, and I take it very seriously. Photo sessions are a moment in time, capturing a person exactly where they are in that moment. I hope the people I photograph can see themselves and their full beauty.
Q: Disobedient Magazine is focused on the relationship between resistance and art, what does this mean to you?
A: Across time and place, art is what speaks from and to the people. It can act as a megaphone, a microscope, or even a cry for help. In the darkest of times, art prevails. It’s like the seed that sprouts between concrete.
For me, this means documenting the world as it currently is. I believe art, and in my case, photography, has the responsibility to persist and name the truth. To live authentically and freely is an immense privilege, so keeping record is important. Documenting joy is a form of resistance.
Q: Where do you see your photography developing in the coming years?
A: Photography is something that I’ve loved since childhood, so I am drawn to continue to explore the ways in which it could excite or inspire me. I'm really interested in working on more projects that are out of my comfort zone or push boundaries such as editorial photography, documentary-style portraiture, and continue my travel photography. I am consistently drawn towards photo sessions that have an element of narrative, so I’d like to continue to explore different stories through my work. I also want to collaborate with other photographers, learn from them, and their inspiration. I’d like to take on larger projects that have an element of storytelling. Overall, I want my work to showcase the world and its many people, some stories that aren’t always seen in daily life. I want my work to give space for nuance, duality, grief, inspiration, silliness, and hope.
Genevieve can be found on Instagram at @Genevieveaway
