The Wide Shot celebrates the work of Bay Area photographers, showcasing their latest projects and behind-the-scenes stories.
Oakland artist and photographer Kirby Stenger (opens in new tab) is known for intimate portraits, often nude, often depicted in nature. Stenger’s ongoing series “Personal Project (opens in new tab)” examines the vulnerability of the human body, with a focus on queer identity. The photos are an act of acceptance through exposure, helping the subjects make peace with their corporeal forms. Stenger, who identifies as trans/masc, practices what they preach: As part of the series, they stripped naked for a series of raw self-portraits.
Three months ago, Stenger went to the monthly daytime dance party Queer Magic and spotted Skye Montante, a choreographer and dance teacher. After a brief first date at the Morcom Rose Garden in Oakland — where Montante was nervous that Stenger was too “stylish and good-looking” for them, while Stenger was struck by Montarte’s beauty and energy — the two fell in love.
Montante is on the verge of getting top surgery, and they allowed Stenger to document the transition process. The surgery is scheduled for March, so for now, the couple has done only the “before” photos. These images offer a fascinating look at a body on the brink of change, and a love in the early stages of blooming.
The Standard talked to Stenger and Montante about their work together.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What inspired “Personal Project”?
Stenger: The impetus behind the portraits was to help people be more themselves and feel more comfortable within their body. It’s about slowing down and really listening to yourself and hearing the narratives that are yours, versus society’s, versus learned, versus those you don’t want anymore. For me, it began as a quiet longing — a desire to know myself, to believe I was worthy of living a story that belonged to me.
What are the most challenging elements about this project?
Stenger: It’s a very tough thing for people to share their bodies. It’s very brave. I do a lot of self-portraiture; I think of myself as trans-masc, but I have a female body, and so that has been a journey for me, to feel at home with the body that I have. Part of the journey is modifying my body — taping my chest, showing the process of doing that. Sharing those images is really vulnerable, because you’re subject to people’s opinions. It’s also a really incredible process.
How do you make people comfortable in these intimate situations?
Stenger: I’m a total hypeman. I really believe that everyone is stunning and that we’re just taught to hate ourselves, but when I see somebody come out of their shell, there’s so much beauty. And so I’m constantly affirming what they’re doing, how they look, who they are. Affirming their bravery. Some people get really emotional. Some people are exploring pretty intense things. But for the most part, people find it really fun, because it is just running around in nature, creating art with yourself. It’s play.
How was it working with your partner, Skye?
Stenger: We went out to Tennessee Valley Beach and just got into it. It was really beautiful, celebrating this body that’s got them this far. I was so focused on holding space for them that it wasn’t at all about our dynamic as a couple, I was mostly making sure they’re OK and comfortable. For the most part, it felt really easy and natural.
Montante: It was really awesome. I was nervous, but not for the stereotypical reasons — we’re so comfortable with each other, but it’s also still early enough in the relationship that I wanted to be “impressive” and do a good job. But as we got into it, things became easier, because Kirby clearly loves what they’re doing and was constantly checking in with me.
Was there something that surprised you about this particular photo shoot?
Stenger: How much comfort Skye had in the body that they’re changing. I’ve never done a before-and-after top-surgery shoot, and so I was kind of expecting them to not like the photos of their chest, but they love them. I was really pleasantly surprised by that and thought it was pretty inspiring.
Montante: There’s something about this idea that trans people hate their bodies. In some ways, I feel like I don’t want to live in this body, which is why I’m going to change that. But being a dancer, my body serves me every day in really big ways; my boobs don’t serve me, but they’re a part of my body, and I use it, and so there’s a deep gratitude. It’s not that I want to change my body. I just want my body to be different in the way that would make me feel better. It’s about adapting.
A shoot like this is a commitment or sorts, to stay together for the “after” part. How did you plunge into that?
Montante: It felt really easy. I mean, I booked a ticket to meet them in Paris in March, two weeks after we met. That trip is scheduled to happen soon after my surgery.
Stenger: We say this to each other all the time, and I’ve said this to them from the beginning: I choose them. I very clearly want to choose this person, and I want them to be in my life.
