Photography · Lesbian · American
About
American photographer, archivist, and visual artist whose work preserves and celebrates the histories, communities, and everyday lives of Black LGBTQ+ people through documentary and fine art photography.
Biography
Alanna Fields is an American photographer and visual artist whose practice explores memory, identity, race, gender, and queer history through photography and archival research. Based between New York City and Washington, D.C., her work centers the lives of Black LGBTQ+ people, often drawing from historical photographs, family archives, and found imagery to reconstruct narratives that have been overlooked or erased.
Fields earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Photography from Pratt Institute. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at institutions such as The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, High Museum of Art, MoCADA, Paris Photo, The Armory Show. Through portraiture, collage, and mixed-media photography, she investigates the intersections of Black identity, intimacy, belonging, and historical memory.
Her artistic practice is rooted in research and preservation, creating visual records that affirm Black queer existence while expanding the historical archive. By connecting personal narratives with broader cultural histories, Fields continues to challenge omissions in traditional photographic collections and museum spaces.
Notable Works
• Mirages of Dreams Past (2021–2023)
A series of large-scale mixed-media collages layering pigment prints and encaustic wax to bring representations of Black queer leisure into focus.
• Les Girls (2024–Present)
Experimental sculptural photographic series celebrating the lineage, visibility, and performance of Black Drag and Femme Queens in 1960s–70s Queer Ballroom culture.
• Crossing The Line (2024)
Mixed-media works on piano-hinged wood panels addressing historical gender-bending, drag, and Midwestern ballroom narratives through archival imagery.
• In & Out of Time (2022)
Series confronting the historical erasure of Black queer icons through repeating isolated archival frames and layered sculptural elements.
• Our Love Was Deeply Purple (2020–2021)
Encaustic and archival photographic work reflecting on early 20th-century Black queer love and intimacy.
Learn More
Explore Alanna Fields’ official portfolio featuring photography projects, exhibitions, publications, and current work.
Yancey Richardson Gallery Alanna Fields
View Fields’ official gallery profile, artist biography, exhibitions, and selected works.
Read an overview of her life, artistic practice, exhibitions, and awards.
Follow Alanna Fields’ official Instagram for new work, exhibitions, and studio updates.
Read about Fields’ photographic practice and her work preserving Black queer histories through archival imagery.
BQW Impact
Alanna Fields has expanded the visual archive of Black queer life by documenting stories and histories that have long been overlooked within mainstream photography. Through archival interventions and contemporary portraiture, she preserves intergenerational memory while creating space for Black LGBTQ+ experiences within museums, galleries, and public discourse. Her work demonstrates the power of photography to recover erased histories and affirm community identity.
Profile details
- Fields: Art
- Roles: Photography
- Gender Identity: Woman
- LGBTQ Identity: Lesbian
- Nationality: American
- Ethnicity: African American
- Topics: Documentary, Portraiture