The Body is a Temple

UTAS FSH215 - Final Portfolio 

I have always felt a strong personal connection to the phrase ‘your body is a temple’. I was not raised religiously and haven’t encountered the shame or judgment often associated with this phrase.

Instead, the concept of creating a space for myself through my body feels empowering to me, especially as a queer person who has frequently felt rejected by society due to religion’s influence. 

Queerness is a home I have built for myself, a sanctuary for the self. By embracing my identity and finding comfort in my body, I’ve created a place to build connections with a community. 

Queerness, with its haunting history, can make simply being happy and safe feel revolutionary. Fighting to express and share this joy is like a religion to me, a ritualistic act of love.

This project is inspired by Nan Goldin’s raw and intimate depictions of New York’s queer underground in the 1980s. Her ability to express deep love and connection with her subjects resonated with me.  

Additionally, I drew inspiration from local Tasmanian photographers Olive Octavia and Nick Green, whose works often capture the human form within the distinctive landscapes of Tasmania. 

In this series, I seek to explore the relationship between body, land, and community—particularly within Tasmania's queer community, which is often profoundly linked to nature.

Each portrait in this series aims to depict its subject as confident, comfortable, and powerful. 

By referencing visual conventions from historical and religious art, I strive to instil these images with a sense of reverence, elevating queer bodies as figures deserving of recognition and respect. 

Through this work, I hope to affirm the autonomy of queer identities, asserting our right to claim our bodies as temples of our own.