Artist Statement:
This is a portrait series featuring queer and lesbian identifying women shot during one whole day at the beach. The project began as a calendar for Autostraddle.com, the world’s most popular independently-owned lesbian culture website, which was founded by close friends of mine. The calendar, originally meant to increase visibility of queer women within a mainstream construct, grew into an annual portrait introspective. For this particular series, I sought to capture images that would reflect the subjects’ feelings of freedom and comfort in their own skin. I was particularly interested in natural, uninhibited moments. I chose a simple expanse of sand and water where the horizon line is sometimes indistinguishable, which was the perfect setting for a very personal and focused look at each of these extraordinary women, among them a Miss California pageant contestant and a former Olympian.

As a photographer, documenting an entire day at the beach is a great challenge. The drastic change in light throughout the day and the ebb and flow of the tides adds an interesting contrast to an otherwise consistent series.

I loved coming away from this shoot knowing that many of these women are now friends, and I hope that these images reflect those bonds formed.

Robin Roemer, 2011

“Robin Roemer & Chelsea Salyer for Robin Roemer Photography captured it all from cute dog to killer dance moves.”

I call this series “Use a Hoe”.

“A special thank you to our photographer, Robin Roemer, who captured the day in all its vividness.”

This is probably one of the hardest places I have had to photograph. Inside much of the space you cannot use flash. Things move quickly and for those of you who know camera-talk, you are shooting at 6400 ISO wide open at 1.2 much of the time. The lighting is crazy and there is fog everywhere! Not ideal conditions, but when you hit it just right, you can capture the amazing look and feel of the show. Enjoy!