Quil Lemons has photographed megastars like Billie Eilish, Lorde, and Pamela Anderson; directed campaigns for Calvin Klein and Gucci; and seen his work included in Gagosian director Antwaun Sargent’s book The New Black Vanguard. But A-list names aren’t the heart of the photographer’s work. His new photo series Quiladelphia, on view at the Hannah Traore Gallery this fall, takes its name from Lemons’ hometown of Philadelphia. “City of Brotherly Love,” he muses. “I think it extends to loving thy neighbor. My interpretation of that is loving my queer family.” The 26-year-old photographer describes Quiladelphia as “a manifesto of radical queerness but also Black queerness.”
L’OFFICIEL: Quiladelphia is quite personal. It feels like a self-portrait
