DUET is a collaborative exhibition by the photography duo Zac + JuJu, who collage their perspectives together to document the cutting edge of trans, queer, and drag performance in Brooklyn. Using disposable film cameras, Zac + JuJu have captured the same shows and performers from slightly different angles over countless nights at iconic spaces like All Night Skate. They have developed a process of collaging their adjacent photographs to form a third image, employing varied printing methods, mounting styles, and backing materials in order to build a new visual language between their lenses. Some of these images were taken on the same night, others, years apart; nevertheless, they coalesce together like notes in a score.

Merging perspectives, Zac + JuJu’s collages call authorship and identity into question, mirroring the collaborative, fluid nature of the trans and queer community itself. Inspired from the concept of world-making in queer theory, these collage-duets evolve from acts of resistance into tools of creation. This exhibition presents sixteen compositions that unite a diversity of bodies, identities, and perspectives to embody a collaged vision of queer joy. To accompany the artwork on display, Westlab + Gallery has published a limited edition book featuring a larger selection of collages from the body of work behind DUET.

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Zac Thompson (They/Them) AKA Zacrilegious is a trans-nonbinary photographer, performer, and producer based in Brooklyn, NY. Their photos, zines, drag show productions, and professional work, which includes producing fine art prints for hundreds of artists, galleries, and museums, prioritize queer joy and art to challenge normative structures of gender, family, and love. They received their BFA from the University of Florida and their MFA from the School of Visual Arts.

JuJu Lee (She/Her) AKA YouKnowJu is a trans photographer and performer based in Brooklyn, NY. She attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in 2018 to earn her Associate’s degree in Musical Theatre. In the Spring of 2024, she was inspired by the work of Zacrilegious and then began taking her own disposable camera photos in queer spaces and everyday life.