Photographer #348: Jeff Sheng

Jeff Sheng, 1980, USA, is a portrait photographer with a special mission. In 2003 he started working on a project called Fearless. The images portray athletes on high schools and college sports teams who openly identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. The ongoing series has been exhibited at over 40 colleges to gain awareness how homophobia affects our society. In 2009 he started working on Don't Ask, Don't Tell. It contains portraits of people currently serving in the US military who are affected by the don't ask, don't tell policy. The policy prohibits people who "demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts" to serve in the armed forces. The faces of the men and women are not shown, hidden by hands or darkness, as they could lose their jobs and pensions. The series was published in two volumes in 2010 and a third volume will be published in 2011. The following images come from the series Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Fearless and Thesis Album.

Website: www.jeffsheng.com