Catherine Opie

Catherine Opie became famous with her photographs of the lesbian community and her involvement with LGBTQ+ activism. From there she grew interested in the various ways in which people cohabitate, both in big cities and in small communes. By creating 'portraits' of these places, Opie raises questions about the way in which a place influences the development of identity. For her Icehouses series she photographed the seasonal huts of ice fishermen on the frozen lakes of Minnesota. Opie was drawn to the fact that different arrangements of these are built every year. She opted for a vantage point from which the houses stand on the horizon like a colorful ribbon. As such they divide the white, meditative space in two and give rise to a nearly abstract image.