BRIAR M. PINE
Camouflaged
Camouflaged (2024-Present), is an ongoing project considering my patriarchal lineage which is tied to military service, hunting, and white American masculinity. Both photography and the masculine culture I was raised in share a similar history regarding the environment; a history mired in ideas of control, domination, and extraction. Camouflage, blaze orange, and military patterning are materials designed to blend into the environment or stand out against it. This is similar to how trans identities are viewed–oscillating between assimilating into the patriarchal cultural environment or challenging it. As a trans person, I often question how I dismantle, uphold, or complicate the patriarchal ideologies embedded within our culture. I utilize personal artifacts such as hair, my grandfather’s collection of skulls, and family photographs to trace my patriarchal lineage while imagining alternative masculinities. Through this process, I break down my history with each material to reclaim and repurpose it.