Trailer - Queer Spaces: Behind the Scene
Hello! Queer Spaces: Behind the Scene is a new photography and podcast series focusing exclusively on contemporary LGBTQ+ spaces. Photographer Tim Boddy (he/him) and journalist and author Alim Kheraj (he/him) will profile a series of collectives in what is a rapidly-changing landscape in London.
Featured are in-depth conversations with a diverse range of voices behind some pivotal LGBTQ+ groups, including Queer House Party, the LGBTQ+ Community Centre, Tonic Housing, and Open Barbers. Each episode will be complemented by original photography and portraiture by Tim Boddy, which captures the spirit of the community.
Queer Spaces spotlights those that are treading new ground, celebrating diversity within the community, finding space for traditionally marginalised voices, and those that are queering heteronormative spaces.
Eight episodes will be released in the debut season, with each episode consisting of one interview. The first two episodes will be available on podcast-streaming platforms in the next two weeks. All images, text, and podcasts will be published as stories here on queerspaces.uk, and announcements on social media will be used for series updates.
Alim Kheraj, author of Queer London, will host the podcast, with Tim Boddy providing photography. The discussions are joyful and celebratory, while addressing key LGBTQ+ issues around safety, accessibility, sobriety, racism, LGBTQ+ elders, and where the community is headed in the future.
London saw a 58% reduction in queer space between 2006 and 2016. This statistic has acted as a call to arms, and in this fluctuating landscape positive stories can be found.
Collectives who operate social events for, and run by, queer women, queer people of colour, non-binary, intersex, and trans people have become far more prominent in recent years. Sober and other cultural spaces have also increased in number. Queer Spaces was borne out of a desire to document the importance these spaces have for LGBTQ+ people.
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Transcript
Alim 0:08
Hello and welcome to Queer Spaces: Behind the Scene, a podcast and photography series where we document contemporary LGBTQ+ spaces and analyse the ever shifting landscape of the UK's queer scene. I'm your host Alim Kheraj. I'm a freelance writer whose work is mainly about the intersection of queerness and popular culture. I'm also the author of Queer London, a guide to LGBTQ+ London past and present.
Tim 0:34
And I'm Tim Boddy, a photographer, artist and picture editor whose work generally centres on the LGBTQ+ community.
Alim 0:41
Each episode of Queer Spaces: Behind the Scene will feature in-depth conversations with a diverse range of voices behind some pivotal LGBTQ+ groups and spaces. Each episode will be complemented by original photography and portraiture by Tim, which captures the spirit of the community. The aim of the podcast is to shine a spotlight on LGBTQ+ people in organisations who are treading new ground outside of the traditional quote unquote gay scene, those groups and individuals celebrating diversity within the community, finding spaces for traditionally marginalised voices, and those that are queering heteronormative spaces. There has also been a shift in priorities away from nightlife, an area that has dominated queer cultural discourse for decades, to more holistic spaces, things like the LGBTQ+ Community Centre in London.
Megan, LGBTQ+ Community Centre: 133
And so this is our way of fighting back, taking control of our destiny, and providing just a small space where people can breathe out and exhale, even if it's for a few hours a week or once a year.
Alim 1:47
Tonic Housing, the UK's first LGBTQ specific retirement community and Open Barbers, a hairdressing service for all lengths, genders and sexualities with a queer and trans friendly attitude. In the nightlife sphere groups like Queer Houseparty are a uniquely digital club no founded during the pandemic, which has now gone IRL.
Seren, Queer Houseparty 2:06
It was one of those things where you know, if it was really exciting, but it almost feels like an imperative. It's like, well, we can't you know, we've got to keep going this, we've, we've tapped into something here and it's really, it's really doing something for the community. And like Harry said, also, like we were, we were suddenly hearing from people who were talking to us about things that we hadn't heard about before, like, how and why nightlife spaces hadn't been serving them and how this space was serving them. And that was that was exciting in a way that felt really new.
Alim 2:28
BBZ, Pxssy Palace, Misery, Harpies and CYOA have all disrupted and reinvigorated LGBTQ clubbing for the better, creating spaces for black people and other queer people of colour, trans and non binary people, queer women, and those looking to party without alcohol and intoxicants. Queer Spaces: Behind the Ccene was born out of a desire to document the importance that queer spaces have for LGBTQ+ people. Each episode is complemented by original photography and portraiture by Tim Boddy. You can find these pictures on queerspaces.uk and on Twitter and Instagram at QueerspacesUK. Find out more by subscribing to our newsletter. The first episode of Queer Spaces: Behind the Scene is coming soon. The podcast is supported through a Mead fellowship awarded by the University of Arts London.
