Asafe Ghalib’s portraits of LGBTQIA+ immigrants in Britain

Brazilian-born, London-based photographer Asafe Ghalib has produced a personal collection of portraits of LGBTQIA+ immigrants in Britain, photographing friends and fellow artists to present them in their 'rawest, most beautiful and most empowered' form. Through a series titled Queer Immigrants, Ghalib explores resilience, visibility and belonging.

The collection includes intimate single-subject portraits and editorial works that centre the queer community, the photographer says. Participants’ statements included in the series underline its aims. Otamere Guobadia said, 'My work aims to capture people within a historical context in order to bring awareness to the long-resisting and historically misrepresented queer community.' Radam Ridwan described using 'monochromatic colours' to resemble newspapers and historical photographs.

Shahar Mizrahi called their work 'an act of both confrontation and pride', and Lexii said it seeks to 'inspire others to question the status quo.' Shine: Portraits in Queer Resilience, Embracing New Dimensions is available to purchase from The New Press. All photographs and quotes are by Asafe Ghalib.