Stormy + Meier’s couples portraits are a study of queer & trans joy
When I was connected with Meier by a friend early last week, I was told about Stormy + Meier’s situation, which is that Stormy was not only diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer just last week, but that he was also told at that time that the cancer is terminal, and he has months to live. I can only imagine the type of grief that must come with that news, and my heart aches just thinking about it. But Stormy + Meier’s story isn’t a story about death, despite the news Stormy received, it’s a story about love and joy.
Meier told me that they and Stormy wanted to not only do couples portraits together (along with their newly rescued pup, Juju), but also that they had decided to get married in short order, to allow them to celebrate their love with their closest friends and family while it’s still possible to do so, and that they wanted photos of their multicultural and multi-faith wedding day as well. Photographers know the power of photographs of our loved ones, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see why taking these types of portraits while Stormy is able to do so would be incredibly meaningful to both of them. That said, everyone handles the this type of news differently, and I wasn’t sure what mood to expect during our couples portraits. Whether things would feel shy, or somber, or something else entirely. It turns out, something else entirely was right.
I was amazed by the joy and love that was apparently immediately when I got to meet Stormy & Meier in person, and even before we started taking photos, I felt like I was with friends (probably because we apparently know a ton of the same people, how have I not met these two before?!).
We went from gym to office to home to outdoors, and in every setting, these two were almost giddy to be interacting together. What started off as a situationship when they first met quickly turned into something infinitely precious to both of them. As I edited these photos after the session, I kept being awestruck by how absolutely beautiful their interactions were, how much they laughed and joked and played. I guess it shouldn’t come as any surprise though that folks who are trans and queer know exactly how to find joy and comfort and love even in the midst of adversity.
Stay tuned for the wedding photos from this amazing couple’s wedding celebration, and in the meantime, please consider donating to the GoFundMe for Stormy + Meier, which will be used to help care for Stormy in a variety of ways during this period, but most importantly to help him realize his lifelong goal of going to Africa, allowing him feel deeply connected with his ancestors in the time he has left. If you’d like to donate, click here.
Enjoy the photos of these two, and I’ll end with this beautiful quote: "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."
—Sam
