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Folio Proposal
This photography project explores how The Butterfly Club acts as a living archive of queer performance and community in Melbourne. More than just a venue for shows, The Butterfly Club is a space that has history, relationships, and rituals that nurture creative lives. This series not only focuses on the spectacle of performances, but also everything that surrounds them. It’s about revealing the messy, creative, and emotional unseen moments that make queer performance possible, and the role that The Butterfly Club plays in shaping and safeguarding that. The goal is to create something that feels both authentic and familiar to the community it represents, while simultaneously inviting new audiences to witness the relationships with, and within The Butterfly Club.
Why do I want to do it?
This project is both personal and political. I'm a transgender, nonbinary photographer, and this is my community. I've spent a lot of time in venues like The Butterfly Club, making work, seeing others create work, building relationships, and realising how crucial these spaces are for LGBTQIA+ and independent artists. Performance spaces like The Butterfly Club are important, and they’re fragile. They hold people. They nurture art. They give shape to culture. But unless someone documents that, it risks disappearing to time.
How will I explore it?
I’ll be photographing candid, behind-the-scenes moments at The Butterfly Club: before, during and after shows. I’ll be using a Panasonic S5II with a fast prime lens (35mm f/1.4), and a Panasonic G9 with a fast prime lens (50mm f/1.7= approximately 100mm full frame equivalent) to work effectively in low-light conditions without using flash, preserving atmosphere and respecting the space.
My process is documentary and stream-of-consciousness in style, responding to what unfolds rather than staged scenes. I’ll use shallow depth of field to highlight intimacy and wider frames to explore spatial context. My editing will be minimal, focusing on mood and tone of the moment I photographed.
Ethics matter here. I’ll be seeking consent from everyone involved and working closely with people to make sure they’re comfortable. I want this to feel like a collaborative process not something being done to them, but with them.
My approach builds on the languages of Goldin, Leiter, and Brodovitch by creating work that is emotionally grounded, unpolished, and immersive. Goldin’s The Ballad of Sexual Dependency (1986) showed me how photography can be raw, emotional and political all at once. Brodovitch’s Ballet (1945) embraced how movement, blur, and energy could feel alive on the page. Leiter’s The Unseen (2018) has had a big impact on how I think about light, colour and instinct, challenging me to create images without needing everything to be literal. These influences shape how I’ll shoot and edit this work.
What is the intended outcome?
At present,the final work will be a small-format photo book that feels intimate and personal. Something people want to spend time with, carry with them, and if they are willing to, to use as a catalyst for connection and conversation with others, or maybe with their most inner beliefs. I want the layout to echo the energy of performance life: non-linear, a bit chaotic, sometimes soft and sometimes loud. I’d also like to include quotes or reflections from current or past performers of The Butterfly Club.
I’ll also be producing one large, exhibition-sized print from the project images, that can stand alone and represent the series. This will help the work translate into gallery or public spaces, which will call to the curious viewer and invite them in.
