Have you ever been on a truly blind date? I mean not knowing who will show up for the date AND not knowing what the date itself will consist of? Let me walk you through my adventure, enter the Lesbians of Austin Facebook Page where I found Brittany and Jasmin. Two photographers who came up with the concept of setting up blind dates with strangers for a photo session.
You start by filling out a form with some basic personal questions and ideal date ideas. Afterwards check your email as they ask for your availability and setting up some consent protocols which honestly *LOVE THAT*, the protocol consist of having a safe word to use during the date. If used they’ll stop the date, check in and end if needed. My choice of safe word? Lobotomy at Claire’s. You’ll meet up at a local spot where the photo session will take place. In case sparks fly options and suggestions are given to see where the date takes you afterwards. Upon arrival is when the blindfolds come out and after a mini interview, you’re put back to back with your blind date and turn around to reveal a cutie.
It's the day before my official first blind date I’ve ever been on and I’m like “Wow is this how it feels to be on Love is Blind?” In this current state of my life I’ve adopted the do it for the plot mentality and this was quite a unique fun plot point. As someone who grew up in an era of dating reality shows like MTV’s NEXT, Room Raiders, Parental Control, Millionaire Matchmaker, and 12 Corazones I was excited that something queer centered and romantic like this was being put out into the world. Regardless of the outcome the hopeful romantic in me was eating up the possibility of it all.
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Pause II
How important is it to you reader to be inspired? I've come to realize being inspired is essential to me. Art when the world is burning can be an outlet and reminder that the love we have in the micro can create movements in the macro, and for those who exist in the margins of society, queer art is how we can at times endure. How often is queer joy portrayed in the media? Although there have been advances in music, movies, television and on social media to me honestly it's not enough. Too much of it is centered around people who don’t look like me, tragic in its portrayal of what it's like to feel othered. No, I want queer JOY. I want romance. I want the plot twist to be “And the gays got to live happily ever after in their farm”.
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Black on black for my date outfit and I’m ready, excited, eager and most important filled with possibility. I’m pulling up to the designated location which is Kitty Cohens, a cute cocktail bar with a pool.
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People will ask me from time to time how do I have the courage or confidence to do new things? I do it scared, nervous, sometimes the me that said yes regrets it, however I love taking a bite out of the world so I push myself out of my comfort zone. It’s a muscle like any other that needs to be worked on. As a Virgo I love predictability, as a Leo moon I love a reason to pussy stunt, as a Libra Venus I just love the opportunity to flirt with the good parts of life.
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Click to watch the IG Reel of the date
3…. 2 ……1 and Jasmin says to take off our blindfolds and turn around.
In front of me is a cutie named Kay. We matched each other's black on black outfit and we went in for a hug, I noticed some cat hair and learned Kay is a pet groomer and I’m allergic to cats. 😭 it's a good thing I carry allergy meds exactly for this reason.
Brittany guided us around the pool and started giving us modeling prompts. Kay and I had some flirty eye contact and it is kinda awkward lol that’s not a bad thing though, it just IS. Feeling each other's energy though while being put in cute poses and letting expectations go was something that made me lean into fun. I also do enjoy the camera, babes the camera loves meeeee.
Kay was a fun partner to have this experience with, they were relaxed, nervously danced, let me take lead at times and when I mentioned I usually lead/top she giggled and blushed. UGH I love when they get shy. There was A LOT of eye contact and that can feel so intimate this was great foreshadowing as we later spoke on missing queer intimacy. It felt GREAT to be a bad bitch and this experience fueled my own creative juices in doing my own self portraits again. Hmmmm perhaps another blog topic for another day.
It was time to change creative directors and Jasmin jumped in to direct the next segment. It’s always fun to see how different creatives interpret the same space and here I got to see each photographers approach to storytelling and vision. We utilized the space inside and out. Making the shot in the pool table, sneaking in the restroom for some fun in the stalls and pouting under a nude portrait. (Check out my IG for those shots!)
Shoutout to both photographers for eating me up and hyping Kay and I. The energy they brought making sure we were comfortable, celebrated, hyped and having fun made this magical. See QUEER JOY is to be celebrated, curated, flamed and captured 📸.
Afterwards Jasmin checked in on us to see if we wanted to continue the date by ourselves or she could take the lead in ending the date. I pondered and in all honesty I didn’t feel a romantic connection AND that shouldn’t stop me from seeing what else could be possible. Jasmin gave an example on how sometimes people don't feel a romantic spark but friendship is the result from the experience. When chemistry isn’t immediate a good tip is to lean into curiosity about the person. I asked Kay if she would be down to go on a dinner date and see where things go from there. We picked Loudmouth where the conversation highlighted our shared experiences of grief, new beginnings, not centering dating for various reasons, queer community, self discovery, COVID, exploring new cities and creating something for ourselves.
I’m unsure if I’ll see Kay again truthfully. I do appreciate that we left things open for friendship as we are both newish to Austin. Finding queer community has been harder than expected for me. Maybe I need to try harder actually lol. Kay and I do have a unique origin story for whatever becomes of us.
SOOOOOOO final thots 10/10 experience. I really appreciate the creativity, inspiration, care and joy Brittany and Jasmin are creating. As this endeavor evolves I’m sure changes may occur. My feedback would be to have a break the ice activity before engaging in the photo shoot! We did the reveal and jumped straight into taking pictures, perhaps asking questions about each other in between snapshots could help in building connection during the session which can be helpful in getting those nervous jitters out.
If you are feeling daring/ flirty and want to participate fill out the form here and follow them on Instagram at @jasifotos @brittanyberrishphotography
beautiful and bold! 💕