Vergey is a fourth-year law student specialising in human rights law, who sees both performance and advocacy as powerful tools for change. In a country where marriage equality does not yet exist, he recently helped advocate for a landmark legal case allowing couples legally married abroad to register their partnerships in Suriname. Surrounded by friends and makeup artists, the space is alive with chatter, colour, and movement but as Vergey steps into his dress, the noise briefly softens. In this pause he is transformed into The Princess before stepping into the jungle to be photographed.
The shift from student to performer reveals how closely personal freedom and human rights are linked. Becoming The Princess is not only art, but a statement: that queer people exist, are visible everywhere and deserve recognition under the law.
#HumanRights #LGBTQRights #QueerVoices #representationmatters #suriname
Vergey practices with Harmony male choir in the river, in the remote village of Botopasi, Suriname. They are singing to mark the community’s 130th anniversary. After hours of travel by bus and boat, he arrives in a place where the wider community has no knowledge of his identity, while within the choir it is known but not openly discussed accepted by some, resisted by others. Still, Vergey shows up as himself, and The Princess becomes a quiet form of activism: a reminder that queer presence exists beyond the city, beyond the headlines, and beyond the boundaries of what is considered “acceptable.”
#DocumentaryPhotography #VisualStorytelling #Photojournalism #humanstories #queerstories
Vergey in captured moments before applying a little makeup ahead of a performance with Harmony, the male choir he sings with. They are visiting the remote village of Botopasi, Suriname to celebrate the community’s 130th year by performing.
After hours of travel by bus and small boat, far from the city he feels most comfortable in, Vergey arrives in a place where the wider community has no knowledge of his identity. Within the choir, his identity is known but not openly discussed, accepted by some, resisted by others.
“I’m just myself in all spaces,” Vergey says.
They finish with “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” chosen by Vergey, a subtle act of activism, sung softly in a place where queer identity is never named but still present
#DocumentaryPhotography #VisualStorytelling #Photojournalism #HumanStories #QueerStories
Some more pictures of this amazingly courageous family.
#queerfamily #documentaryphotographer #lbgtqfamilies #documentaryphotography #humanrightsmatter
Sara and Jessica are raising a family together in Suriname, navigating love, parenting and visibility in a place where queerness is still not fully accepted. Their story holds both the joy of building a life together and the quiet negotiation of when and how they can be fully themselves.
At home, they are simply a family. Out in the world, it’s not always that simple.
“We are both mum. That’s it.”
Acceptance isn’t guaranteed. Sometimes it means not holding hands in public, not using certain words, not showing affection, constantly adjusting to get through the day.
They still believe that love conquers all.
Their story is about more than visibility, it’s about what it takes to live openly, and what it costs when you can’t.
For some, simply living truthfully requires real courage.
#queerlife #discoversuriname #suriname #lifestories #documentaryphotographer
And then came Suriname, a stunning hidden gem that completely took me by surprise. One of the least densely populated countries in the world, with just a handful of people spread across vast rainforest, it felt so wonderfully peaceful. From the buzzing streets of Paramaribo where Dutch colonial architecture meets Caribbean culture to the remote river village of Botopasi where I joined locals celebrating 130 years of its history, my mind was blown by the beauty, warmth and spirit of this country. Travelling to work by boat through the rainforest felt surreal, everywhere I went I was met with such openness and kindness. A truly special place that is so often overlooked in South America. #SouthAmericaTravel #OffTheBeatenPath #documentaryphotographer #travelphotography #yourshotphotographer
The Princess stands in the jungle of Friedrikdorp, Suriname fully dressed and fully visible. For many locals, this is the first time they’ve seen drag before. For Vergey, drag is not an escape from identity but an extension of it, a way to express who he is, openly and without apology. In a country where marriage equality does not yet exist, he combines performance with advocacy, studying human rights law and working to expand legal recognition for queer people. The Princess is a symbol that queer lives exist everywhere, including places far from the city, and that visibility can be a form of strength.
#natgeoyourshot #suriname #lgbgtqplus
I met a wonderful couple on a little island off the coast of Cartegena. Thiago de Souza Morais, 35, and his partner Carlos Henrique, 36 years were so lovely to chat too, open and honest and an amazing insight to queer life. I really loved spending time with them.
Thiago told us : “I come from a small district in the north of Brazil. I was the first one to come out as gay in my village. There are at least 6-7 people in my family who are gay, including cousins and uncles.
My mother didn’t speak to me for the first eight months after I came out, even though we lived in the same house. She said she would prefer I was a drug user than gay. I was 18. It has been step by step since, and now she takes my boyfriend shopping!
My father has always been supportive, and now even asks how he can help things to more inclusive for gay people.”
#lbgtq #queer #cartegena #documentaryphotographer
In Bogotá, where an LGBT policy now protects rights and visibility, life feels different and slightly better than in many other Colombian cities. But Danne, a proud non-binary activist, remembers when that wasn’t the case.
Eighteen years ago she helped open Bogotá’s first LGBTQI+ house, creating a space where people could finally be themselves. Danne’s activism was shaped not only by public discrimination, but also by personal experience. Growing up in a conservative family, she struggled with rejection and secrecy, and was subjected to conversion practices, exorcisms and therapies meant to “fix” her sexuality and identity. “It is so hateful,” Danne says. That trauma pushed her into human-rights work in 2009.
Today, Danne is still close to her family, but the relationship is complicated, an ongoing negotiation between love and acceptance. They speak of the pain of being misunderstood, but also of the small moments of progress when family members begin to see them as they truly are.
Colombia has progressed since the 1991. Constitution replaced the 1881 “Sacred Heart of Jesus” decree, but the struggle for equality continues. Danne now leads a campaign in Congress to ban conversion practices. The project is called Nada que curar “Nothing to Cure” because no one should ever be told they need to change who they are.
Danne, Dominik, and Charlie from @fundaciongaat are an amazing queer rights advocacy group based in Bogotá, Colombia. They are family inside and out. It was pure joy to spend the day working with such an incredibly strong and engimatic group of humans. The day will be in my heart forever.
Dominica, Bogotá, Colombia.
Dominica is a non-binary, trans-feminine person from Colombia, raised in a conservative Christian family where much of their identity had to be hidden. “From when I was born until I was 18, I didn’t live for myself,” they say. “I was the person my family wanted me to be.”
Everything began to shift after high school, when Dominica found a chosen trans family that allowed them to explore their mind, body, and sense of self. “I don’t know exactly who I am,” they explain, “but I know who I am becoming.”
In the streets of Bogotá, Dominica moves visibly and unapologetically. Their presence often makes people uncomfortable, but that discomfort creates reflection. “They ask, ‘Is he a boy? Is she a girl?’” Dominica says. “And I just say, I am just me.”
This portrait reflects human impact through lived experience: how visibility, presence, and self-definition can quietly reshape public space and expand how humanity is seen and understood.
Dominica’s story is a portrait of lived defiance; of claiming space in a world that seeks to define, confine, and ‘correct’. Through visibility, they transform discomfort into reflection, and resistance into self-knowledge.
