Events
Bring a personal photo, share its story and explore lesbian memory, history and visibility while helping shape a living archive.
…[G]ive us a visual record of our passages…a mosaic of lesbian strength, of our strivings to remake our outer and inner worlds.
—Joan Nestle
The Lesbian Snapshot Collective (LSC) knows that everyday snapshots – personal images that might otherwise remain unseen – belong in the museum alongside fine-art photography.
Archives have often excluded lesbian lives or represented them on someone else’s terms. Becoming Archived asks how our photographs and stories might enter the record on our own terms. Each participant decides what to share and whether anything is retained beyond the workshop.In this friendly, creative two-hour workshop, we will explore what our photographs show, what lies beyond the frame and what we remember beyond the image. Share as much or as little as feels right and listen to the similarities and differences in one another’s stories.
You are invited to bring a personal snapshot of yourself, share its story with the group, and reflect on what it means to archive lesbian life now. Scanners, index cards, and consent forms will be available for those who wish to donate their photograph to the Lesbian Snapshot Collective, deciding how it may be archived and displayed. There is no expectation or pressure to lend or donate for those who prefer to keep their snapshot private.
We will consider what is visible, what sits outside the frame, what the image cannot show and how it might be understood years from now. LSC is building more than an archive. With contributors’ consent, our photographs and stories may also become collective public artworks—collages or mosaics that make lesbian lives visible on our own terms.
This workshop builds on earlier Becoming Archived sessions with Glasgow Women’s Library and Lavender Menace. The project is expanding across Scotland, collating and collecting photographs and stories for a growing lesbian archive and for possible public artworks, publications and collective installations. These installations bring contributed images together as a collage or mosaic of lesbian lives.Bring a photograph. Share its story. Help build a living archive—and ultimately a collective artwork—of lesbian lives.
FAQ’s:
Who is this workshop for?
Anyone who identifies as a lesbian, dyke, bi, or queer woman is warmly invited to attend.
Older dykes are especially welcome, along with their memories and perspectives that always enrich and enliven the intergenerational conversation.
This is a trans-inclusive event. Trans women and non-binary people are warmly welcomed. Attendees at our events understand that LSC has zero tolerance for transmisogyny and transphobia. Discriminatory, hostile or harassing behaviour will not be accepted.
What do I need to prepare for the workshop?
Bring a photograph of yourself as a starting point. Sharing our own images and stories kicks off the conversation about building the archive together, where consent is given, for imagining future collective artworks. If this creates an access, privacy or practical difficulty, please contact Stills before the workshop to discuss options.
If you prefer, your original snapshot can be scanned during the workshop so that you may keep the original.No printed photograph? You can usually print one from your phone at Boots in St James Quarter for around 40p; please check availability and price before travelling.
What will happen to my personal snapshot? This is exactly what we would like to talk to you about. What would you like to happen to your personal snapshot? Attendees can choose to only share their photograph with their group on the day or can have their snapshot archived for the future. Bring a photograph of yourself, share as much or as little as feels right and help build a living archive of lesbian lives. With contributors’ consent, the images may also become collective public artworks—collages or mosaics made on our own terms. You decide whether your photograph is scanned, retained or used beyond the workshop.
How will the workshop be structured? We will have up to 20 participants and 3 facilitators at the workshop. In the first half, we will discuss the issues of being archived as lesbians before breaking into small groups and talking about our individual snapshots. After a 10-minute break, in the second half of the workshop we will delve deeper into archival processes and consent. At this point you will be invited to donate your snapshot (or create a new one for) the Lesbian Snapshot Collective archive if you choose. We end the workshop with an invitation to take your own portraits courtesy of the Stills Photobooth – and we ask you to donate at least one of the frames to the LSC in the spirit of Becoming Archived IRL!
Access information
Stills is accessible at street level from Cockburn Street. Please ring the doorbell if you require assistance entering the building. All public areas have non-stair access, via a general use lift. We have an accessible, gender-neutral toilet one floor down from the main gallery, reachable using the lift. You can view our Visual Guide here (https://stills.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2Stills-Visual-Story-2025_compressed.pdf) Please email info@stills.org prior to the event if you have any specific access needs that you would like to discuss.
📸 Lesley Turnbull, Self Portrait, circa 1988 (@lesleyturn_bull)