Brent Galen Adkins is an artist living and working in Philadelphia. After years of going out dancing with their partner, they began photographing queer nightlife events for parties like Polari and Levee, as well as the Queer Dance Philly party Melt. From Brent: "I used to spend so much of a night out looking around the room while I danced, taking in all of the magic that defines the dancefloor: groups rejoicing at the late arrival of a friend, a dancer with their head tilted back lost in a trance, two lovers closing their eyes in the breath before a kiss. Through my camera, I get to preserve the beauty of our spaces, the intimacy that can only exist in the sea of sweat and ecstasy, of our bodies shoulder to shoulder under the wash of colorful strobes that briefly interrupt the darkness. I’ve been fortunate to make a lot of new connections and friends through this work, allowing me to create art that celebrates queer nightlife as its own world and the complexity of how queerness weaves itself into the world outside of the dancefloor in our city and beyond. I try to work instinctually and subtly, taking photos without flash while I dance the night away, the way I always have, moving with the collective whose energy brings the space to life. Through my efforts, I hope to capture your spirit in a way that you feel honors you, and even better if you never noticed me taking your photo in the first place. The real magic doesn’t happen when you feel like you have to perform for someone else, it comes when you are able to let go and lose yourself to the sound, to the swaying of the crowd, to the rituals of the night." Well said, Brent.