6 minute read
A Matter of Identity
Chris Jepson, photographer extraordinaire, talks to Jaq Bayles about his ongoing project and how it has forged connections within the community
As Chris Jepson lays down his camera following a (physically distanced, of course) photoshoot for his ongoing Identity Project, he confesses to having 40,013 photographs in his iPhone’s Recents folder. That might seem like pretty promiscuous snappery, but Chris sees subjects worth capturing everywhere in the world around him and has been making a living from pictures (and reportage – he also does PR for Brighton & Hove Pride) for the past 20 years, since swapping a career in chemistry for a life in design.
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But the coronavirus pandemic pulled the rug out from under his regular gigs covering the scene for QX, Boyz and others. With bars shut and no scene to speak of, there was nothing for him to cover and the magazines pretty much went into hibernation, so he found himself looking back through his archive with a view to “doing a 20 years retrospective of London clubland”, which will be a work in progress.
Given the proliferation of shots on his phone, that must have appeared a Herculean task, but viewing his portfolio from an objective position led Chris to a realisation that in turn would result in his latest venture.
He determined then that he wanted to do something that was “much more inclusive and. Diverse, and anybody who wanted to be photographed, if I could, I would do it”.
He adds that he didn’t know where the Identity Project would start and where it would finish, but he has his sights set on portraits of some 200 people who identify as being on the LGBTQ+ spectrum and has already collected more than half of those.
“I am 52 now so I’m getting to a point where I want to do something for me for a change. I hadn’t done much personal work photographically.”
On his Identity Project website, Chris explains: “From religious to secular, young to old, performer to military, this series of black and white portraits presents the diverse faces of LGBTQ+ people from myriad walks of life across the globe, challenging stereotypes, reframing assumptions and dispelling the myths of perceived identity.
He adds that “all families have disagreements and moments of discord, and the rainbow family is no exception, but I am hoping this project will show that our rich diversity is our greatest strength”.
The set-up Chris uses comprises the white background, two lights, two brollies, two tripods, and a Nikon D850 DSLR camera, all of which pack into a couple of small bags, so he can take it anywhere and give everyone the same treatment.
The plan is for the project to be global – it began before the coronavirus pandemic and started in Paris, where six people posed, and continued with a few in Florida and further shoots in Brighton, London, Liverpool, Manchester and other UK locations.
It has also turned out to be very diverse, with about a third of those involved coming from BAME communities, says Chris, while some subjects have disabilities and the age range runs from a gender-fluid 11-year-old from Cambridge to Brighton’s Oldest Gay in the Village, 96-year-old George Montague.
And the project has uncovered some truly amazing stories, such as that of James Lyndsay, best known for running the Vauxhall Tavern, who was dismissed from the Royal Navy and lost a high-profile job as a managing director for being gay. He had never before told that story in public and as a result was contacted by three other ex-Navy people who had suffered similar discrimination.
Activist Jason Jones brought a case to the High Court of Trinidad & Tobago to overturn the ‘buggery laws’ left over from British colonial rule, while Barrister Dr S Chelvan’s work has helped change the way LGBTQ+ people’s asylum cases are assessed by the Home Office and United Nations.
“Some of the stories would not otherwise have come out,” says Chris of the rich tapestry of lives he has interwoven, and he has bigger plans for the collection.
While many of the pictures can already be seen online, there are plans to exhibit them physically, and thanks to an artists’ grant from the Pride Cultural Development Fund, the first event is lined up for Brighton’s Jubilee Library as part of Pride Month 2021. There have also been offers of exhibition space in London – one at Heaven nightclub in the heart of the LGBTQ+ community – and in Paris.
Chris plans for each exhibition to include 50% local people and 50% from other areas to show the connections that arise between them, but the full collection of shots will never appear together at an exhibition.
“I’m thinking of maybe 30 or 40 prints in A1 size all shown together to dispel the preconceptions of what is LGBTQ+. We are everything and everyone.”
And he plans to accompany each exhibition with a zine. “I want to tell more stories than can go on a gallery wall. Hopefully there will be a book in the future.”
A bit about Chris Jepson
Chris got into photography “by accident”. After gaining a degree, then researching for four years for a PHD, both in chemistry, he worked for Glaxo Smith Kline developing new drugs and organic compounds. “But I got a bit bored and left – I decided a white lab coat in Herts wasn’t for me.”
He moved back to a little flat in London’s East End and signed up to a part-time graphics course in Tower Hamlets, dancing in clubs to pay the bills. From there he worked for a temp agency: “Every week was a different job. One week I’d be designing insurance forms in Edenbridge, the next an Indian food and drink magazine in Chelsea.”
Then a company asked him to stay on and he ended up in a Shoreditch graphic design studio for five years before setting up on his own.
