Arts: What Happens to a DADT Photo Project When DADT Ends?

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Brow Beat What Happens to a DADT Photo Project When DADT Ends? By Heather Murphy Posted Tuesday, Jul 31, 2012, at 12:38 PM ET For three years, photographer Jeff Sheng lived overwhelmed by secrets. He knew things that could ruin lives, so he trained himself in the art of forgetting. Rather than addressing his subjects by names, as he'd always done on previous shoots, he avoided uttering their names at all. He hoped this technique might prevent the names from burrowing their way into his memory bank and then accidentally emerging later. He took a similar tack with other details: addresses, ranks, units, ages. He gathered them up and then quickly put them out of his mind. During media interviews and speeches, he just hoped he'd buried them deep enough that a casual question wouldn't lead to a devastating slip-up. Sheng's responsibility to protect the identities of the 90 or so gay, lesbian, and bisexual service members who let him photograph them weighed on him. In the process of photographing and interviewing these people, he learned about their lives, the countries they'd served in, the children they raised with partners (whom they had to pretend were just friends). They had shared something with Sheng, a relative stranger, that they couldn't share with friends and colleagues for fear of losing their job. "Their inability to tell their closest friends and co-workers," he says, and then his voice trails off. "Your heart breaks for them." Sheng's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" emerged from another project, "Fearless," which is currently on display at the London Olympics Pride House. In ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Bobby Jindal's Science Problem "I Feel Bad 4 Our Fans That Have 2 Push Mute" Did Gymnast Jordyn Wieber Perform Too Soon?	Advertisement
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