about tulle queer

Founded in 2022 by trans photographer Brady Pappas, Tulle Queer is an ongoing portrait series and annual exhibition celebrating the queer icons, chosen families, and glittering subcultures shaping life across South Central Pennsylvania.

What began as an obsession with tulle as a visual motif evolved into a living archive of rural queer life: a world of drag performers, dreamers, nightlife legends, artists, lovers, and hometown leaders photographed with the glamour and adoration they deserve. Through free, on-location portrait sessions, Brady uses Tulle Queer to transform familiar landscapes into stages for self-invention, visibility, and celebration.

Inspired by Pappas' own journey growing up in York, Pennsylvania, and later embracing their identity as a trans artist, the project creates the kind of images they longed to see growing up. Photographs that insist queer life in smaller towns and cities is not only possible, but vibrant, inspiring, and worthy of being remembered.

Each June, one image from every session is brought together for the annual Tulle Queer exhibition, accompanied by drag performances, DJs, and local LGBTQ+ artists. More than a photo series, Tulle Queer is an expanding universe dedicated to documenting the beauty that emerges when queer people are given the space to be fully seen.