Collected Item: “This is what the freedom to be queer looks like”
Your Name
Alyssa Hester
Your Pronouns
she/they
Instagram handle, if any
alyssa_hester10
Work Title
This is what the freedom to be queer looks like
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.)
Black, latina, queer woman
[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 photo is of my partner and I while we were on a trip together. Since I’ve met Maddie, she’s been a constant inspiration to me in her approach to life and in her fashion. She’s usually dressed in bright, vibrant colors with stunning silhouettes. She gives her friends and me the permission to be unapologetically ourselves. I have been able to express my queerness fully because of her example. I chose this photo because seeing her stripped of color with me taking the shot reflects how I experience the brightness of her soul in our quiet moments together.
[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."
Two women in an elevator, one photographing the other.
[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