ICP Teen Academy
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For this project, I decided to go with an LGBTQ in sports theme. More often than not, people like me are discriminated against or not taken seriously in the sports community, just for being who we are. There have always been people who think it’s the status quo to be straight in order to play sports, therefore they think that it’s okay to discriminate. In order for us to feel like we “fit in”, or even to avoid harassment, we have to hide our identities, because our teammates make us feel ashamed. Often in my hockey locker room, I hear the other guys on my team making gay jokes, which has been the case in multiple sports I’ve played in the past. The f-slur (fag or faggot) is frequently included in these jokes. Therefore, I made these photos to portray that in the LGBTQ community, we should be proud of who we are in sports, despite the stereotypes and those who make us feel we can’t be our true selves while playing. This topic isn’t talked about enough, so I decided to use my personal vision project to reflect my feelings on the topic.
Piero Zanes is a photographer from Montclair, New Jersey. He frequently travels to places like Colorado, which inspire his work. His photography stems from a passion for aviation. He started by photographing planes, and then moved on to other subjects. Later, his dreams of becoming a pilot were crushed when he was diagnosed with epilepsy. His epilepsy created a new half of his identity, paralleling his coming out. When playing sports, he had to hide his identity due to discrimination in the sports community. Epilepsy also inspired his dream to become a travel photographer, which was sprouted from wanting to become a pilot. He has always been a big adventurer and brings his camera almost everywhere he goes. Piero has visited 4 countries and 26 states in the U.S. He looks to expand and create a variety of photos from around the world, and would like to learn more about different cultures while photographing in these different places. His work is influenced by pictures from National Geographic. He is currently a student in the Teen Academy Imagemakers program at the International Center of Photography and goes to Montclair High School.