A series about memory and how one develops a sense of place by photographer Colton Rothwell. Born and raised in small towns in the Western United States, Rothwell examines his own memories and queer identity and their relationship to the cultural and physical landscapes of his youth:
“I was raised for the most part in a town of 700 people in rural Idaho and felt like an outsider after discovering I was gay in my early adolescence. During my formative teenage years, I was faced with a choice, to conform to the traditional masculine culture of the Western United States — one defined by violence and destruction — or to run away and create my own sense of belonging. It is through this struggle that my relationship with the idea of place emerges, and I question the persistence of the mythology of the West. It is this tension between ecstasy and fear that I hope to convey in my image-making.”
See more images from “Elegy” below!