IN THE CLOSET

Coming out can be a moment of freedom, but it does not always mean leaving the closet behind. Sometimes, the closet remains internally — carried as a learned instinct to hide, perform, and carefully choose which parts of yourself to reveal.

In the Closet explores the quieter, more complicated aftermath of hiding one’s identity. Growing up in environments where queerness exists in silence can create a habit of self-censorship — learning which parts of yourself can be shown and which are better kept hidden. Coming out may change the outside world, but the instinct to hide can remain.

The series translates this internal space into fashion and the body. Garments inspired by the form and movement of a bird become a symbol of freedom, vulnerability, and restraint. The body becomes both the subject and the space in which these contradictions exist.

Moving between intimacy and discomfort, beauty and tension, the photographs explore shame, desire, fear, and the need to be seen without explanation. Rather than telling a specific coming-out story, In the Closet focuses on the emotional residue of hiding — and on what happens when something that was once concealed begins to take up space.