Portraits of Marsden Kelly

I met Marsden after attending a friends improv show at Second City in Chicago a while back. She's also a part of the comedy improv group Thicc & Emotional, and a stand up and writer in her own right. When she asked me to take her portrait I jumped at the opportunity. I love shooting creative people from all walks of life, especially ones that do things I find very hard, like writing and getting on stage. Before we shot, she expressed a desire for her queerness to show through in the photos, as a femme lesbian sometimes visibility is an issue since you don't have the "usual" lesbian markers associated with more masculine presenting women. How to go about this was a unique challenge I welcomed, and I ultimately settled on borrowing from an age old advertising troupe; disembodied women's hands symbolizing sex appeal, only this time it's women only. Said hands are yours truly.