Artist Spotlight: Michael Sharkey

After last week's dive into queer artistry, I felt compelled to look at other artists doing incredible work in tandem with their experience as part of the LGBTQIA+ community. 

Michael Sharkey is a photographer, writer, and videographer living in Brooklyn, NY working to illustrate the raw and authentic with his fascinating work Queer Kids. The series began in 2006 and is an amalgamation of photos and interviews that dive into what it means to simply exist as queer. Subjects are presented with strength, humor, and confidence that givers a fresh and unapologetic glance into identity. 

Raul from Queer Kids

Sharkey spent 8 years going across Europe and North America documenting both faces and narratives with hopes of capturing the defiance and beauty of a group stigmatized by the after effects of the AIDS epidemic and the influence of the religious community in both government and in society. He does so as a child of the 90's and as someone who draws continual inspiration from both diversity and the stories of each individual in the face of both glory and discrimination. 

You can look at works like Queer Kids and other fantastic series at Michael Sharkey's Website.