Queer Nature Photography Awards | Janice Tadoyo - ‘Curves of Chosen Kinship’

Queer Nature Photography Awards 2026

"Curves of Chosen Kinship"

Jan Tadoyo

"Kiss of Life"

Rendered in striking monochrome, this image isolates the dramatic, fluid interaction between two flamingos, highlighting the tension and elegant geometry of their intertwined worlds. Flamingos are a cornerstone species in the study of queer ecology, well-documented for forming stable, cooperative, long-term same-sex partnerships that court, establish territories, and successfully rear fostered chicks. Within their dense colonies, social interactions are highly expressive, shifting fluidly between boundary defense, courtship rituals, and deep interpersonal bonding. By focusing on the raw form and intense physical proximity of these birds rather than their conventional coloring, the photograph strips away commercialized tropes of nature. It presents a powerful testament to the complex, non-binary social structures and diverse expressions of partnership that thrive within the avian world, mirroring the queer community’s own history of chosen partnerships, shared resilience, and diverse family structures.

About the Photographer

Name: Jan Tadoyo

Age: 46

Nationality: Originally from Calbayog City, Samar, now based in Cebu City, Philippines.

How does your identity influence your work?

My identity shapes how I perceive connection, guiding my eye toward stories of resilience, unconventional bonding, and chosen communities. It allows me to look past rigid, traditional narratives in both society and the natural world, capturing the fluid, nuanced truths of companionship and belonging that often go unrecorded.

What message do you hope to convey with your work about the intersection of queerness and biodiversity in nature?

I want to show that diversity isn't an anomaly; it is nature’s baseline. As seen in the photo, moving past conventional lenses reveals that same-sex partnerships and non-binary structures are vital to ecological richness, deeply mirroring the beauty and resilience of the queer community's chosen families.

What do you think is the importance of highlighting diversity in both nature and society, and how can photography play a role in this?

Diversity is essential for survival, monolithic ecosystems fail, and so do rigid societies. Photography can bridge this gap by cutting through commercial stereotypes to show parallel truths in nature and humanity, validating diverse structures and encouraging a broader understanding of what is natural.

What is your favorite example of queerness in nature?

Flamingos are an incredible example. Their ability to form dedicated, long-term same-sex partnerships—building nests, defending territory, and raising fostered chicks together—perfectly demonstrates the depth of chosen kinship and shows that diverse family structures thrive naturally in the wild.

A note from the Narwhal Rainbow Alliance

Flamingos are a famous cornerstone of queer ecology, widely celebrated for forming stable, long-term same-sex partnerships that can last for decades. In these pairs, same-sex couples perform synchronized courtship dances, establish territories, and successfully raise chicks. Interestingly, male-male flamingo pairs—who are on average often larger and stronger than females—frequently build bigger, more robust mud-mound nests and defend larger nesting territories than opposite-sex pairs. Because these robust mounds are highly effective at resisting environmental erosion and floodwaters, they often act as protective buffers, shielding neighboring nests from harsh elements and physical encroachment. This defensive capability provides a significant evolutionary advantage to the colony at large. The presence of these "fortified" territories thus can increases the overall nesting success rate of the group! Today, flamingos face serious threats from the degradation of their sensitive wetland and salt-flat habitats, often driven by water diversion, pollution, and mining. Protecting these vibrant birds requires safeguarding global wetland ecosystems and reducing industrial impact on the specialized saline lakes they rely on to feed and breed.

Flamingos (Phoenicopteridae) – Conservation Status Varies (Wetland habitats threatened)