How does your identity influence your work?
 

I believe that essentially photography is about seeing the world through the eye of an individual. Wildlife photography has long been dominated by men and as a woman- a queer woman- I feel that my work reflects wild spaces in a way that is consistent with my identity and viewpoint. I hope that who I am as an individual human being is conveyed in my portraiture of wildlife and sets it apart from other photographers.

 

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

Nature has taught me much about the fluidity of life and diversity on the grandest scale imaginable. Life is so much more complex than the rigidity we humans have assigned to it. I strive to be genuine and have integrity in the stories I capture- portraying the realities of what I see- and that often involves facets of biodiversity including queerness. I’ve observed this in a large variety of species including cougars, moose, American bison, and bighorn sheep.

 

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

Wildlife will teach us lessons about ourselves if we let it- we are not so divorced from the wild as we believe and we are animals ourselves. By observing and appreciating diversity in nature, and the lack of binary that exists outside the walls of our own creation, we can apply these lessons to ourselves and our society. Photography can help convey these lessons to people who might not otherwise ever get a chance to see it for itself.

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What is your favorite example of queerness in nature?

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My personal favorite example of queerness in nature will always be a mountain lion I spent several years documenting at the end of her unusually long life- a life that gave quite a bit of insight to researchers on her species while she was collared and even after through persistent tracking and camera trapping to observe her behavior. She was documented in a same-sex pairing with another lion and this footage was later used in a groundbreaking paper that illustrated same sex behavior in Puma concolor. For me personally, she will always be my wild icon of bisexuality that resonates with me.