Another fLIP magazine emerged, it is out since late August. The title of the magazine in ‘The Queer Issue’, and my submission consisted of a series of snapshots I took at the Central London Pride Parade in 2015. For me that signifies Summer time in colour and glitter - and happy memories of friends parading, dancing and singing along.

What does the word ‘queer’ actually stands fore? Anyone knows? First thing that comes to mind is its modern association with LGBTQ+ people. However, the word ‘queer’ has a much older and more complicated history. originally it had nothing specifically to do with sexuality or gender. Its historical meaning was essentially not straight, not conventional, not following the expected direction, different from the norm…

By the late 19th century, queer was being used in Britain and America as a derogatory term for men perceived to be homosexual, particularly men who did not conform to conventional ideas of masculinity. By the early 20th century, it had become an established insult directed at homosexual men.

Nonetheless, in modern history, activists of the 1990s began deliberately reclaiming the word queer, turning an insult into a statement of identity, resistance and pride. The idea was essentially: '“If society calls us strange, abnormal or different, we will embrace that difference rather than apologise for it”.

Challenging a group of photographer with such a complex theme guaranties a diverse outcome: find out for yourself how the term was photographically interpreted. The magazine is available at specialised stores across London, including the Photographers Gallery, Tate Modern Bookshop, National Portrait Gallery, Whitechapel Gallery Bookshop. You can also order the latest issue via the LIP website: https://flip.londonphotography.org.uk/