Tina FiveAsh
Dykes Like Us (1994)
A Lesbian Self-Imaging Photographic Project
10 x Silver Gelatin Prints
Dimensions 16 x 20” each

Dykes Like Us (1994)

A Lesbian Self-imaging Project by Tina FiveAsh

“In recent years references to lesbianism have been making their way into popular culture in an unprecedented way. Madonna has flirted with it, Martina Navratilova openly admits it, and the BBC make costume dramas about it. This does not mean that mainstream society is welcoming lesbians with open arms, but it does suggest that lesbianism’s historical status as a despised and invisible identity is no longer appropriate.”*

Dykes Like Us is a series of photographic portraits which explore a theme of lesbian identity and representation. Lesbians from diverse backgrounds and age groups have collaborated with me to produce a series of portraits that talk about: what it means for them to be a lesbian, how they choose to represent themselves when given control, and what is significant to them in their lives.

Each of the women were given several weeks in which to come up with an idea for their portrait, and I did not place any restrictions on them. Only in a couple of cases, when confronted by technical difficulties, have the portraits deviated from their original intent.

My role in this project has been that of organiser, co-ordinator, photographer, director and printer. By collaborating with a diverse range of lesbians for the project, I have produced an exhibition where no single “lesbian identity” or stereotype is being presented. Rather a multiplicity of identities, perspectives and possibilities.

This project has been of great significance, importance and value to me as a photographer, and also on a personal level. To produce this exhibition I have managed to co-ordinate and organise the diaries and schedules of ten very busy lesbians, to create time for meetings, discussions, traumas, photoshoots etc, which at times proved very challenging. I have also learned to work collaboratively, to put my own aesthetics aside in the creation of a series of portraits that say more about the people in them, than me as a photographer.

Apart from my skills as a photographer improving considerably, I have had the added pleasure of meeting and working with many incredible women, who I would not have met otherwise.

— Tina FiveAsh (1994)

References

*The Good, the Bad, and the Gorgeous: Popular Culture’s Romance with Lesbianism. Edited by Diane Hamer and Belinda Budge. Pandora, London, 1994.