let boys be
by fabiola lopez
As a young Latina woman pressured to live up to a “feminine” role, Fabiola Lopez questions why society sets boundaries and categories that limit a person’s being. While exploring traits traditionally associated with men - aggressive, tough and dominant - compared to those attributed to women - soft, delicate and peaceful - Fabiola set out to capture portraits of men who also experience the frustration of having to exist within the constraints of “masculine” identities.
Her photographic chronicle, Let Boys Be, challenges the concept of toxic masculinity; becoming a visual and sensory exhibition that is exciting, surprising, and introspective. Vibrant colors, fleeting scenes and creative expressions portray the identities of men who flourish with femininity. Collectively, they represent what it looks like to interrupt judgement, traditional roles and misconceptions about gender, behavior and attributes. Being different is a way of life, and the lines are blurred in this exhibition between what they are supposed to represent and who they choose to be.
Fabiola's portraits capture those intimate moments with her subjects, inviting you to smile with them, to feel with them and to praise them for who they are - their authentic selves.
