Black Carnation Part Three
Latvia
2026
The title of the project is a reference to the term used to refer to gay men in the Latvian gossip press before the Soviet occupation. The work deals with histories that were mostly unwritten, forgotten or bluntly censored, and the relationships that often lasted no longer than an orgasm on a beach or a public bathroom.
The ideas of transience and impermanence are reflected in the chosen materials – yellowing newsprint and inevitably fading thermal prints on the receipt paper used to print train tickets. Gay men of today, whose identities are often hidden upon their request, are captured at the historic cruising beach a short train ride away from Riga. Thus, the photos bridge history and the present, and celebrate community building in a country often grappling with its “traditional values”.
Portfolio
About the artist
Born in 1990, Konstantin Zhukov is an artist living and working between Latvia and the UK. His work is informed by his research into the lives, experiences and spaces that historically fell through the heteronormative system of archiving and history-making. Queer histories of his home country Latvia form the basis of the ongoing Black Carnation project.