This photographic essay explores a wide spectrum of experiences told from the perspective of a diverse group of young people, ages fourteen to twenty-four, identifying as queer. Portraits are presented without judgment or stereotype by eliminating environmental influence with a stark white backdrop. This backdrop acts as a blank canvas, where each subject’s personal thoughts are handwritten onto the final photographic print.

Rachelle Lee Smith an award-winning and internationally shown photographer based in Philadelphia, whose work in Speaking OUT: Queer Youth in Focus combines her passions for activism and photography. The decade long project will be available as a book this fall.