Laura Aguilar

In the photograph on the left, a lesbian couple tenderly embraces for Laura Aguilar’s camera. In a similarly ordinary pose at right, the women are unclothed, accentuating the physicality of their bodies and the pregnancy of the woman on the right.

Growing up working class, Laura Aguilar was conscious of the power dynamics of socioeconomic class structures and the power of art to elevate ordinary people. In 1990, she began this photographic series Clothed/Unclothed, featuring peers of color and/or lgbtq+ individuals. By capturing her subjects both dressed and undressed, she amplifies the everyday beauty of socially minoritized bodies. Aguilar began this series with her own self-portrait. 

–Conor Moynihan, associate curator of prints, drawings, and photographs