Collected Item: “True to Form”
Your Name
Sophie Spinelle
Your Pronouns
she/her
Instagram handle, if any
@sophiespinelle
Work Title
True to Form
Work Year (We are not accepting images older than 5 years)
2025
[Image Rights] Do you confirm that you hold the rights to this image?
Yes
[Eligibility] The Curve Photo Contest proudly centers and uplifts people who identify as lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer women and nonbinary people. Please share how you self-identify, using language that feels most accurate to you. Feel free to include all intersections of your identity. (Examples: lesbian, trans person of color, Latinx queer woman, radical faery, butch, etc.)
Queer femme
[Artist Statement] Tell us more about your photo by sharing a brief artist statement OR answering this prompt: "This is what being ______ means to me..." (Max. 100 words)
"This is what fighting back means to me." How are queer and trans people to make sense of the claim that our personal journeys toward authenticity are somehow destructive to society? Here, professional archer Carey Norland appears as a renegade of a different kind, one who brings not violence or destruction, but compassion and self knowledge. The photograph was made two days before Carey’s gender-affirming surgery, holding a moment of resolve, vulnerability, and hope.
[Visual Description] Describe your photo so we can provide alt-text. Example: "Two women holding hands and smiling as they walk in a pride parade, surrounded by rainbow flags."
In a beautiful forest, an archer pulls back their bow purposefully. But instead of shooting with arrow, they are preparing to send forth a lavender rose. Their quiver is full of colorful flowers. Their expression is equal parts focus, courage, worry, and hope.
[Agreement] In the event that you win the 2026 Curve Photo Contest, do you consent to having your photograph printed for the sole purpose of displaying at The Curve Foundation's one-day event at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco, CA) during Lesbian Visibility Week? The Curve Foundation will cover printing costs, but will not cover costs for mailing the print after the event ends.
Yes
[Agreement] Do you consent to The Curve Foundation storing, sharing, and using this image and its description as we deem appropriate, including disseminating on our social media, website, and Curve Archive and Curve Quarterly?
Yes
[Agreement] By checking 'I understand' below, I acknowledge that this contest upholds values of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and I confirm that my submission does not contain anti-LGBTQ+ or other discriminatory, hateful, or exclusionary content.
I understand