Pride Through Photography — MICKI HARRIS PHOTOGRAPHY

*The Chen Family, 2025. Photo by Micki Harris.*

As Pride Month begins this year, I’m reflecting on my journey as a photographer looking at the world through my queer lens. There has never been a version of my work that exists separately from queerness. I am lucky to have been resourced enough to begin understanding who I was from an early age, coming out as bisexual in 7th grade when I had my first girlfriend. I have always been proud, thanks to the community I found in LGBTQ+ youth groups and the generations of people who came before me for whom existing authentically required more bravery than I could ever imagine.

I have the medium of portrait photography to thank for my journey to identity clarity and gender euphoria. Though I came out young, it would still take me several more years to understand that my queerness was not just about my sexuality but equally about my gender. Had I not met the magical trans and genderqueer people I met through engaging in the photo community in Chicago (Shoutout to Jordyn Belli, A Klass, and my cohort at Columbia College), I don’t know when or if I would have gotten here. I came out as non-binary in the Spring of 2018, quickly moving from “I’m trying out they/she pronouns” to “ease only ever refer to me with they/them pronouns.” As soon as I tried it out, something clicked within my sense of self. When you know, you know – You know?

*Danny and Yanyu, 2025. Photo by Micki Harris.*

I have never done anything special for Pride Month before, especially not as a business owner. I watch from the sidelines as brands jump on the bandwagon once allyship becomes profitable and walk it back after they lose too many conservative dollars. Rainbow capitalism has nothing to do with real pride. Pride is protest. It is resistance. It exists because of Black and Brown trans women who refused to hide. And it is because all of those women that I get to do what I do, which is photograph the safe and tender moments of queer love, queer family, and queer personhood.

This year, I decided to celebrate specific groups of the community through portraiture, including queer youth, queer families, and queer elders. Stay tuned for themed blog posts throughout the month, but I thought I’d anchor the beginning of the month around my existing work from over the years and the incredible individuals who make up my big, queer body of work. Thanks for being here.