A quiet yet defiant portrait celebrating softness, strength, and self-defined masculinity.
Company
DeMarya
Timeline
2024
Role
Creative Director and Photographer
Project overview
Butch Queen is a visual exploration of masculinity expressed through softness, elegance, and intentional restraint. As both the creative director and photographer, I shaped the concept from vision to execution, prioritizing presence over performance. Through minimal styling, intimate framing, and deliberate pacing, the project challenges traditional gender binaries and honors masculinity as fluid, tender, and self-defined. Every visual choice was made to allow identity to exist naturally, without spectacle or excess.
Challenges
Leading the project creatively and photographically required maintaining a cohesive vision while staying responsive to the subject’s energy. The challenge lay in translating a nuanced concept through subtle visual language, where lighting, composition, posture, and adornment had to carry emotional weight without overt dramatization. Balancing vulnerability with authority demanded precision and sensitivity, ensuring softness was read as intentional and powerful rather than fragile.
Results
The final series is a refined, intimate body of work that reclaims masculinity through grace and vulnerability. The images feel timeless, composed, and quietly commanding, successfully translating concept into a cohesive narrative. Butch Queen stands as a strong representation of my approach as a creative director and photographer: intentional, emotionally aware, and rooted in authentic self-expression.
A quiet yet defiant portrait celebrating softness, strength, and self-defined masculinity.
Company
DeMarya
Timeline
2024
Role
Creative Director and Photographer
Project overview
Butch Queen is a visual exploration of masculinity expressed through softness, elegance, and intentional restraint. As both the creative director and photographer, I shaped the concept from vision to execution, prioritizing presence over performance. Through minimal styling, intimate framing, and deliberate pacing, the project challenges traditional gender binaries and honors masculinity as fluid, tender, and self-defined. Every visual choice was made to allow identity to exist naturally, without spectacle or excess.
Challenges
Leading the project creatively and photographically required maintaining a cohesive vision while staying responsive to the subject’s energy. The challenge lay in translating a nuanced concept through subtle visual language, where lighting, composition, posture, and adornment had to carry emotional weight without overt dramatization. Balancing vulnerability with authority demanded precision and sensitivity, ensuring softness was read as intentional and powerful rather than fragile.
Results
The final series is a refined, intimate body of work that reclaims masculinity through grace and vulnerability. The images feel timeless, composed, and quietly commanding, successfully translating concept into a cohesive narrative. Butch Queen stands as a strong representation of my approach as a creative director and photographer: intentional, emotionally aware, and rooted in authentic self-expression.