- Event location: Open Space, Cadman Courtyard, College Road
Free entry
A photographic exhibition by Martin Elliott, exploring the sexual orientation of people in Stoke-on-Trent and the surrounding area.
The exhibition is part of a wider project called Sex in The Potteries (SITP) which is a previously unexplored photographic exhibition examining the lives of people who are living through – or have lived through – adversity within their community.
SITP is a joint collaboration between Martin and Staffordshire University MA student Fee Wood and will incorporate photography stills, video and audio of people who want to tell their story of who they are and what they believe in without being judged and with no prejudice.
The project has been developed to allow people within the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender (LGBT) community to stand up, be proud and say ‘this is me’.
Designed to educate and enlighten, the exhibition will form the basis for a long-running exploration of people within the Midlands and further afield.
It will include sexual gender orientation including transgender, transsexual and hermaphroditic preconditions. It will also include gay and lesbian sexual proclivity amongst other associated sexual choices and predilections.
The aim of Sex in the Potteries is to educate, inform and visually and audibly motivate a generally uninformed public about the everyday barriers, social stigmas and impediments suffered by the LGBT community.
The exhibition will provide a voice for a minority whom, it is felt, are often criminalised because they are different. It will also give the general public a window into the world of gender dysphoria and the barriers that are often put up by a sometimes xenophobic public.
Martin, who has been a professional photographer for over 22 years, said: “The exhibition will highlight a section of society that our communities are not often involved with, with the intention to overcome any prejudices and preconceptions. My hope is that it will celebrate what that community can offer to society.”
Martin’s past exhibitions include Portraits of the Potteries and Faith in the Potteries.
For more information call Martin Elliott on 07981 227443 or email mepics@live.co.uk
http://www.mepics.me/