Love is Stronger with Pride
The world feels increasingly invested in telling people who they should be.
What they should look like, who they should love and which parts of themselves deserve celebration - and which should remain hidden. On a Saturday afternoon outside the Submission Beauty store, if only for a moment, that felt as far away as we could push it.
New friends stopped for a portrait and a conversation. We spoke about love as freedom, about allyship, visibility, creativity and what it means to move through the world without shrinking.
Pride has always existed in conversation with resistance. Not that long ago, it was easier to believe we were moving toward a better place. This year, the need to protect one another feels so immediate, and gathering carries a new kind of urgency yet again. The reasons people gather may change. The need for gathering does not.
What stayed with us after was the atmosphere of the day. Strangers speaking easily to one another, people carrying comfort in their own skin.
These portraits are a record of one afternoon in Los Angeles, and of a group of people who continue to make room for one another.
PHOTOGRAPHY LUCA MASTRO @lucamastro
CASTING SAMANTHA GUTIERREZ @mexican.marilyn.monroe for @submissioncasting
MAANASA
She/Her, makeup artist,@chill_girl_archetype
I believe love is important because it shows you that so much is possible and there's so much to live for. Love teaches you to be more present in every moment.
JESS
She/Her, actor/designer, @jessejedi
Pride is revolution, Pride is anger and love together - and acting on that.
OLYA
She/Her, producer/artist, @medvedo0o
Love is freedom and peace to me. I feel at my best with the person that I love. Pride is everything - it’s what makes me who I am.
MARINA
She/Her, @marinavmorris
Pride is important - you have to be proud! It’s just obvious to me; there’s nothing cooler than being different and unique. I think that every person who is themselves will be different and unique - and there’s no reason not to be proud of that.
BRINDA ARUN
They/She, creative producer / actor, @brindanotbrenda
Love is rooted in reciprocity. Love is about taking care of yourself and taking care of others. Self-love is also rooted in love, and to me, pride is the opportunity for all of us under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella to come together and celebrate each other, celebrate ourselves - and simply be who we are authentically to ourselves.
MORGAN
She/Her, mom/photographer, @momocharlton
Love means to me being a mom, being free to be yourself, being confident and being in nature.
MADDIE
She/Her, program manager, @maddielikeshotsauce
Pride is especially important to me this year, because our rights are under attack. It's so important to have visibility and love within our community. Pride is about showing up for everyone, supporting each other, making new friends and continuing to support all of our queer people in Los Angeles.
J’MILL
She/Her, @japostrophemill
The truest expression of love is ultimate acceptance and thereby, ultimate expression.
NICK
She/Her, movement artist / podcast host, @nick.thegirl
Pride means being yourself - who you were born to be. I think that creativity expresses itself through authenticity, and being yourself is the most source-driven way to express yourself authentically.
Being proud is showing up as who you are.
SASHA
She/Her, model/actor, @sashab_xd
Pride is important because everyone should simply be able to lead happy lives
