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Bernd Ott Explores Gender in “All The People”

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For a lot of people, gender is something they don’t have to think about. The duality of male and female has made gender exploration unnecessary for most people, but the reality is far more complex. The world is moving in the direction of understanding and truly seeing people whose gender identity doesn’t fit so neatly into the binary. We’re learning that it’s far closer to a continuum, which isn’t particularly tidy but is much more honest. That honesty provides for crucial self-expression. 

Photographer Bernd Ott teamed up with Emily Besa on “All The People,” a new book that pairs photographs of subjects with more complex genders alongside interviews that shed light on their places in the world. The project started in Amsterdam, London, and Los Angeles with friends but has since expanded New York and Berlin. In order to make the images as representative as possible, Bernd allowed each participant to wear whatever they wanted and choose the environment of the shoot. Each image is starkly different, but as close to the desired representation as possible.

In creating this living document that will help educate so many, Bernd found an education for himself. “The amazing part to me was how at some point the gender definition became so meaningless once I realized that it exists in so many variations,” says Bernd. “Then it is the human being I am interested in and not the label, which doesn’t fit many people anyway. How easy it becomes to get close to someone once categorizations that separate us into different groups are null and void.” When we release the limiting ideas of two genders, we allow our community to blossom into truth. 

“All The People” is up for backing on Kickstarter now. You can contribute here. 

View more work by Bernd Ott on Gallery Stock.