Where Love Is Illegal

The acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersexual people (LGBTI) has increased significantly in recent decades. However, people whose sexual orientation and gender identity do not conform to the norm are still being prosecuted in 72 countries of the world. The brutality is shocking: fines, imprisonment, torture – in some cases also the death penalty – are on the agenda of daily oppression.

For several years, the internationally acclaimed photographer Robin Hammond – a member of the Amsterdam agency NOOR – travelled through countries where LGBTI people are persecuted and threatened. This resulted in hundreds of portraits of people who – openly or secretly – have to defend their identity anew every day, often at risk to life and limb.

Robin Hammond took his impressive portraits on Polaroid film, which gives them their own, almost surreal and dreamlike visual aesthetics. Through the shooting technique, the careful approach to its protagonists and the use of the available light, Where Love Is Illegal is not only an invaluable document of our time, but also demonstrates the photographer’s extraordinary ability for artistic expression.

In  cooperation with: Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung.
With kind support: Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Hannchen-Mehrzweck-Stiftung.