Jeremy Lentz with Shafiq Akhtar holding Shafiq’s children Kara and Rafiq. Photograph by Danielle Richards

(TEANECK, NJ) -- Teaneck Pride announces the opening of a Photography Exhibition, "This Is Who I Am / This Is Who We Are" at the Puffin Cultural Forum. The exhibition features photography by Teaneck photographer Danielle Richards that present portraits of Bergen County LBGTQ+ families and individuals. It will run from June 20 through July 31, 2023.

Organized by TeaneckPride’s Rev. Dr. Michelle White, this stunning display of black and white portraiture seeks to render visible the otherwise invisible and underrepresented part of our community. Twenty black and white photographs by award-winning photographer Danielle Richards with accompanying text present families from all of the diverse communities that make up our region.

The subjects of this exhibition are our neighbors, our friends, our community. They include rabbis and Christian clergy, teachers and professors, single parents, partners and their children, young people and seniors.

According to Rev. White, “The LGBTQ+ community must confront fear and anonymity here in Bergen County.  TeaneckPride intends to create a new narrative and to offer visible and substantial support to our community. We are grateful for flag raisings but we plan to do so much more. The LGBTQ+ community in Bergen County, our friends and our advocates are taking action.  This is who we are! We are grateful to the Puffin Foundation who continue to make a commitment to the work.  We invite you to join the effort.”

Gallery Bergen director Tim Blunk is curating the exhibition for the Puffin Cultural Forum. “When photography was first introduced in the 1850s,” says Blunk, “Frederick Douglass was one of its strongest proponents, recognizing its power in arguing incontrovertibly for the humanity of Black people. There is an equivalence in returning to this medium to make a similar statement on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community. To this purpose, we consciously chose the black and white format for these images. They ask you to look more closely and see past the surface.” 

Photographer Danielle Richards has been one of New Jersey’s top photojournalists for over twenty-five years. Much of this time was spent as a senior photographer for The Record where she covered assignments ranging from the Super Bowl to both Papal visits; from portraits of Fortune 100 CEOs to long-range enterprise projects on juvenile justice, autism, the environment, and documenting local communities. Ms. Richards founded her own stock photography image company, Jersey Girl Stock Images. She is sought after all over the New York metropolitan area as an events and wedding photographer based on her journalistic approach and her commitment to working with our area’s diverse communities. 

There will be an Opening Reception on June 20, 2023 from 6:00pm to 9:00pm.

The Puffin Cultural Forum is located at 20 Puffin Way in Teaneck, New Jersey. The exhibition will be shown at Bergen Community College in the fall.

This exhibition is made possible by a generous grant from the Puffin Foundation Ltd. and private donations.