“Everyone can see we’re together
As we walk on by
And we fly just like birds of a feather
I won’t tell no lie
All of the people around us they say
Can they be that close
Just let me state for the record
We’re giving love in a family dose”
~ from “We Are Family” lyrics ©Nile Rodgers & Bernard Edwards
By Elin Spring and Suzanne Révy
Ah yes, family. The core element of every society since time immemorial, our families lay the foundation that influences our choices for the rest of our lives. A cultural microcosm, the family unit delivers a crash course in the full range of human capacity, from life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to treacherous doses of conflict and rejection.
Eventually, we get to choose our own families and the current exhibitions at the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, MA are all about those choices. Nuclear Family, curated by Katalina Simon with the Griffin’s Executive Director Crista Dix, envisions the definitions of family through the lenses of six LGBTQ+ artists: Mengwen Cao, Jess T. Dugan, Yorgos Efthymiadis, Matthew Leifheit, Laurence Philomene, and Anne Vetter. In the smaller galleries, Kevin Bennett Moore creates cinematic fantasies in Meditations in an Emergency, and Matthew Finley imagines An Impossibly Normal Life in his fictitious visual memoir of an uncle. All shows are on view through March 30th, 2025.
The Griffin’s Main Gallery displays the work of six artists with distinct viewpoints, but their arrangement on the walls suggests a different story. Many images are mounted in arrays rather than a traditional horizontal line, and some of the projects are intermixed. Such a presentation emphasizes commonality rather than a divergence of attitudes about familial bonds.

Installation view of Nuclear Family, featuring work by Anne Vetter (left) and Mengwen Cao (right). Photo by Suzanne Révy.
The mellifluous flow of narratives throughout the gallery conveys not only each artist’s individual experiences but dialogs between them that underscore a convergence of emotions. Foremost is a sense of longing for acceptance and community. Undoubtedly, all of us can claim such feelings but, as these artists all identify as LGBTQ+, their particular challenges have heavily influenced their artistic expressions. It is this very attribute of heightened sensitivity to the slings and arrows of societal biases that makes these artists’ imagery so relatable to a wide audience.

“Banyi & Stella” 2022, from the series Liminal Space by Mengwen Cao, courtesy of the artist and Griffin Museum of Photography.
With a gentle, kaleidoscopic palette, Mengwen Cao’s Liminal Space pictures caring moments with queer and trans people in the Asian community, normalizing those who are balancing a queer, in-between identity often deemed to be at society’s extremes.

“Wen Liu” 2019, from the series Liminal Space by Mengwen Cao, courtesy of the artist and Griffin Museum of Photography.

“Letter to My Daughter” video still, 2023, by Jess T. Dugan, courtesy of the artist and Griffin Museum of Photography.
Jess T. Dugan’s autobiographical video, Letter to My Daughter, addresses the intense emotions, adjustments to and expectations of parenthood from their vantage point as a queer and nonbinary person. In their personal struggles and triumphs, we can recognize the passionate feelings of every parent.

“Letter to My Daughter” video still, 2023, by Jess T. Dugan, courtesy of the artist and Griffin Museum of Photography.

“Vangelis O.” installation, 2021 from the series The Lighthouse Keepers by Yorgos Efthymiadis, courtesy of the artist and Griffin Museum of Photography.
In The Lighthouse Keepers, Yorgos Efthymiadis celebrates the Greek friends of his youth who, “strong and resilient, fragile and tender, (were) always there to help, guiding each other through life, and reminding me of where I belong.” With somber and symbolic images, his groupings weave stirring narratives of longing and nostalgia.

“Olive Tree” 2023, detail from the “Christos E.” installation of The Lighthouse Keepers series by Yorgos Efthymiadis, courtesy of the artist and Griffin Museum of Photography.

“Paul Fasana’s Desk, Stonewall National Archives, Fort Lauderdale” 2021, from the series Queer Archives by Matthew Leifeit, courtesy of the artist and Griffin Museum of Photography.
Matthew Leifheit’s Queer Archives features his images of materials documenting queer culture and identity in the 20th century. The salon-style arrangement of memorabilia and collections across one wall of the gallery attests to the long struggle of the gay community in a poignant presentation of factual evidence.

“Body Hair Collection, GLBT Historical Society, San Francisco” 2023, from the series Queer Archives by Matthew Leifeit, courtesy of the artist and Griffin Museum of Photography.

“Bedtime with Nina and Vashti” 2019, by Laurence Philomene, courtesy of the artist and Griffin Museum of Photography.
Laurence Philomene’s self-portraits are their memoir as a non-binary person as they hormonally transition. Their empathic images of individual moments, expressed in vivid colors with a pensive mood, symbolize their evolution and self-acceptance.

“Berlin Walk, Me vs Others” 2017, by Laurence Philomene, courtesy of the artist and Griffin Museum of Photography.

Feature Image: “Pond Games” 2022, from the series Love is Not the Last Room by Anne Vetter, courtesy of the artist and Griffin Museum of Photography.
Created in collaboration with their immediate family, Anne Vetter’s Love is Not the Last Room, envisions the clear love and tangled emotions that accompany intimate connections. Bathed in a Baroque quality of dramatic light, the images range from introspective to playful as they examine gendered and gender-fluid experiences from the inside of their own family.

“Self Portrait as my Brother Douglas” 2020, from the series Love is Not the Last Room by Anne Vetter, courtesy of the artist and Griffin Museum of Photography.

“Line Dry” by Kevin Bennett Moore from the series Mediations in an Emergency, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.
In the Griffin Atelier Gallery, Kevin Bennett Moore’s Meditations in an Emergency scrutinizes threats to the LGBTQ+ community, employing a mid-century modern aesthetic that flourished at time of conformity during the Cold War. The nuclear arms race during the last century threatened the American way of life, but history shifts with each decade, and the current political class would have us believe that our true enemies are the nonconformists such as gays or lesbians, and particularly those who proclaim gender fluidity. Moore’s cinematic technicolor constructions from the domestic realm, such as line drying laundry or shopping at the deli counter or even watching a scary movie, drip with a kind of foreboding. The very real threats to the LGBTQ+ community and beyond are palpable here, raising the question: are we any safer than we were during the Cold War?

“6 O’Clock Mass” by Kevin Bennett Moore, from the series Meditations in an Emergency, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

“Marshall and me off to our sweet sixteen party” by Matthew Finley from the series An Impossibly Normal Life, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.
Matthew Finley has scoured the world for anonymous, mid-to-late 20th century snapshots in order to create his fictional biography of a late uncle who died in the mid-1970’s and who may have been gay. An Impossibly Normal Life is installed salon-style in the intimate Griffin Gallery, accompanied by a large vitrine filled with albums, prints and ephemera, The anonymity, possibilities, and mysteries of the images allow Finley to weave wistful tales of authentic experiences in a life without fear. Adorning many of the found snapshots with glittery stars or circles, the pictures are celebratory and joyful, as Finley imagines the possibilities of a life his uncle might have led had he found love and acceptance. Visitors will feel a warm embrace.

Installation view of An Impossibly Normal Life by Matthew Finley at the Griffin Museum of Photography (Photograph by Suzanne Révy)
Perhaps the most powerful aspect of the Griffin Museum’s interrelated exhibits is the way they observe and acclaim our shared human desire for intimate bonds. These affecting narratives exemplify our craving for a family – given or chosen – that bestows meaning and value to our lives.
On view through March 30th, 2025, for more information about the exhibits and accompanying programming, go to: https://griffinmuseum.org/