The next photo project to be presented as part of the photo exhibition at QueerFest 2015 is “Activism as an identity” by German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans. Wolfgang Tillmans is a famous contemporary photographer, who in 2000 became the first non-British artist to receive the Turner Prize (a prestigious art award that could be considered the equivalent of an Oscar in the fine art world). In 2014, Tillmans visited Russia to create a series of interviews and portraits of activists in Russia’s LGBTQ movement.

The photographer discussed many issues with the protagonists of his project, including questions about the causes of institutional homophobia in Russia, the possibility or impossibility of conducting public direct action campaigns to address LGBTQ issues, and the increasing number of LGBTQ refugees within the last one or two years.