Immersive portraits of Berlin’s queer communities

For photographer Emily Dodd-Noble, taking a good portrait is all about “frequencies”. When photographing in fast-paced party environments, as she often does, the trick is to “tune in” to a person’s energy and carve out pockets of connection amid the chaos. “If you want to capture someone’s essence, you have to be delicate in order to protect the moment that already exists,” she tells Dazed. “It’s about creating a common space between you where nothing else really matters, where they can just hold themselves in their own space and time and power.”

Dodd-Noble’s ability to pick up on a frequency and preserve it with her lens is evident in her latest exhibition Dancing Off Beat, which opens this Thursday, May 23 at Like A Casino in Kreuzberg. A “love letter” to safer spaces within Berlin’s queer communities, it features film portraits taken at club nights, voguing balls, drag shows, and WHOLE Festival over the past two years. As much as her photos reflect her “admiration and adoration” for her subjects, the project also charts a deeply personal period of discovery for the 26-year-old photographer.

Dancing Off Beat marks her second solo show in Berlin. Her first, 72 Hours, was an atmospheric insight into Berlin’s underground raves during the pandemic lockdowns of early 2021. She was new to the city at the time, having left her home in London at the end of 2020. Exploring these parties with camera in hand, her lens became “a beautiful connecting point” between herself and other revellers, enabling stillness and intimacy in what was otherwise “a very dark, very manic time”.

As the city opened up again, and the action moved from abandoned bunkers back into official venues, Dancing Off Beat picked up where 72 Hours left off. While Berlin’s nightclubs are famous for their strict no-photo policy, Dodd-Noble managed to get permission to take analogue photographs at certain queer parties, like Lunchbox Candy. “Consent is non-negotiable, whether it’s from the subjects I’m photographing or from the collectives hosting the event. I always ask the people running the party, and they ask the venue’s permission,” she explains. 

Despite being an “extrovert” who is “nearly always” partying alongside her subjects, Dodd-Noble loves being able to disappear behind the lens. “I think every event needs its main characters and its audience members, and it’s nice to switch roles,” she says. “There’s often this rolling momentum at a party, and it can be easy to forget to take a second. My camera offers me that moment of calm and intention; the opportunity to zoom into someone else’s world. It’s almost meditative.” 

Since picking up a camera around the age of 12, Dodd-Noble has been inspired by the work of Nan Goldin, and her friends joke about the similarities between the two (both can be spotted by their fiery red curls). “When you look at Nan’s photos, even the most mundane, you think, ‘god, I’d love to be there’,” she says. “I want to create imagery that lures you in like that.” 

As an image-maker, Dodd-Noble’s intention has always been to celebrate self-expression and to “show other people how beautiful they are through mini cinematic moments”. But Dancing Off Beat is also diaristic and confessional in a way that is not obvious at first glance. The creation of that series was deeply formative, she explains, with this exhibition marking the end of a chapter of intense personal growth. “I guess during my first years in Berlin I was on the periphery of these spaces, appreciative but not so active,” she reflects. “But these portraits were taken alongside me figuring myself out, and understanding my own queerness and sense of self in relation to my subjects.” 

She is wary of romanticising Berlin as a whole, however. “Everyone used to say that Berlin is an island – this queer, artistic utopia detached from the rest of Germany – but it feels more like an archipelago these days,” she notes. “There’s this tendency to glamorise the city because of its hedonism and sexual freedom, but there’s a lot of fucked-up stuff going on.” 

She reflects on the “dark clouds” that have gathered in recent months – everything from the rising censorship and repression of pro-Palestine solidarity, to the attack on a queer couple in broad daylight in April, streets away from her studio, which onlookers did nothing to stop. “I guess the spaces I’m photographing are like lots of little islands within the city. You find the one that works for you and hold on tight to the people within it,” she continues.

Dodd-Noble hopes the exhibition will be an “empowering moment” for the communities she’s been moving in, “a chance to pause and celebrate those individuals who live life to a rhythm that’s slightly offbeat”. She adds: “I have so much appreciation for these people and for the amount they’ve taught me through photographing them. Acknowledging their beauty and their queerness has really helped me embrace mine.” 

Dancing Off Beat, the second solo show from Emily Dodd-Noble, takes place 23 - 25th May, 2024 at Like A Casino, Zossener Str., 3310961 Berlin. Keep up with the photographer’s work via Instagram or her website