Pacing 

portrait goes here ^^^^^

Jace Meister

Through Pacing, I document my life as a queer & trans human with an energy-limiting dynamic disability called Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (also known as ME), which often renders me homebound. I have to be strategic about how I use my energy or face the consequences of debilitating crashes, which can impact my long-term baseline of functioning. These photographs are taken either within my home or neighborhood, representing the way that adjusting to a disabled existence has shrunken my world. This is due both to the nature of ME & the lack of truly inclusive community spaces where accessibility is considered, with precautions taken to limit the transmission of infection. It is particularly heartbreaking to see this in many queer & “radical” spaces, knowing that LGBTQ+ folks are far more likely to experience Long Covid symptoms, disability, & systemic barriers to healthcare. 

All of my photographs are taken with 35mm black & white film. I invite color & texture through digital collage in the form of an iridescent cellophane material, which has been manipulated & scanned. This element of the pictures represents my queer/trans desire & joy. My queerness has saved my life. It allows me to creatively consider the ways I can dream up & build an expansive, subversive life full of connection & pleasure that works for my chronically ill body, outside of any normative societal script.

With Pacing, I hope to be in conversation with creative work made by other queer individuals with disabilities, & to bring additional awareness to underfunded, incurable, misunderstood diseases such as ME. Pacing resists linear time & capitalist grind culture, where productivity & output equal worth. Pacing claims space, centering my individual queer transsexual disabled experience, highlighting moments of stillness & beauty & joy. It takes its time doing so. I invite you to move slowly through the photos.