JULES BACHRACH

It ain’t easy being me, or you - a lot of times, people struggle with being true to themselves and need a place where they can feel comfortable. The sanctuary that I chose to photograph for this project was the Hunky Jesus Festival of Dolores Park, San Francisco. This pride event happens every Easter Sunday, which, in 2025, happened to fall on 4/20; another celebratory day. At this event, people dressed up as Jesus, sometimes in drag, sometimes sexily, and always authentically. These six photographs aimed to capture the moments and examples of authenticity at this event. They were also taken as an attempt to show how amazing authenticity can be when achieved. It is a potent and telling thing. While shooting for this project I intentionally looked for examples of this that reflected the ways I have struggled to succeed in being authentic: my struggle to be fully authentic in what I wear for example. Or, I chose to highlight micro-environments that allow people to be true to themselves, mostly in conversations.