Photos of LGBTQ people in Hong Kong ‘playing it straight’ feature in awkward exhibition that challenges attitudes towards sexual minorities

LGBTQ people in Hong Kong, under pressure to conform, often ‘pretend to be straight’ to their families, photographer Shawn P Griffin says

His and Leslie Montgomery’s exhibition Playing it Straight puts the shoe on the other foot, showing intimate pairings of people of different sexual orientations

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A photo featured in “Playing it Straight”. The exhibition, at the Hong Kong Arts Collective until February 24, pairs subjects of different sexual orientations to explore attitudes towards sexual minorities. Photo: Hong Kong Arts Collective

Published: 5:15pm, 11 Feb 2024

The couples look uncomfortable, their body language forced. There’s also little eye contact and a lot of awkward hand holding.

But capturing discomfort is the point of “Playing it Straight”, a photography exhibition by Shawn P Griffin and Leslie Montgomery that shines a light on society’s attitudes towards sexual minorities.

On show at the Hong Kong Arts Collective (HKArts) in Wan Chai until February 24, “Playing it Straight” takes people of different sexual orientations – heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual – and puts them in intimate situations that do not match their own sexuality.

The social experiment not only gauges the reactions of those being photographed and the people around them, but also invites the audience to reflect on their own attitudes towards relationships.

The photos featured in “Playing it Straight” aim to capture discomfort to drive home their message that sexuality doesn’t have “an off and on switch”. Photo: Hong Kong Arts Collective.

For some in the LGBTQ community, being asked to “play it straight”, often by conservative parents who put conforming to societal standards before the happiness of their children, is common. But sexuality, say the photographers, does not have an off and on switch – it is a paramount aspect of who people are, and that’s the message they want to hit home.