Pride Photo co-curated Queer Havens, a photography exhibition that opened in summer 2025 in Amsterdam, in partnership with World Press Photo. The project explored what safety means for LGBTQIA+ communities across different cultures and contexts today.
Since the 1970s, queer communities around the world have created spaces—both physical and emotional—where people can express themselves freely, connect with others, and find belonging. These “safe spaces” remain essential in the face of ongoing discrimination, exclusion, and violence.
The Queer Havens exhibition featured the work of Mackenzie Calle, Mads Nissen, Maika Elan, Temiloluwa Johnson, Hannah Reyes Morales, Tamta Gokadze, Cansu Yıldıran, Ky Smiley, Andrés Gregorio Pérez, Quetzal Maucci, and Adrien Selbert.
Queer Havens brought together twelve photographic projects—six from Pride Photo and six from the World Press Photo archive—documenting and celebrating these spaces in all their complexity. The exhibition highlighted how these refuges provide both joy and relief, as well as the ongoing tensions queer people navigate between safety and surveillance, expression and repression.
Through a combination of documentary and contemporary photography, the exhibition invited audiences to reflect on the importance of creating and protecting safe spaces. Queer Havens also encouraged viewers to consider their role in making collective spaces safer and more inclusive.
COLOPHON
– Concept Development: Zindzi Zwietering, Raphael Dias de Silva, Alba Noguera,Samira Damato
– Curator: Samira Damato (Pride Photo) & Raphael Dias e Silva (World Press Photo)
– Design: Studio Colorado
– Text: Raphael Dias e Silva– Dutch Translation: Tommy de Bruijn