The Anointed 1898, from the portfolio In a Dream You Saw a Way to Survive and You Were Full of Joy

Since 1980, the queer artist-duo McDermott & McGough have adopted an anachronistic late-19th century lifestyle, from their dress to their artmaking. This photograph, for example, uses a World War I-era process, the palladium print. Resisting contemporary modes of self-presentation, they aim to highlight both the homophobic and homoerotic aspects of the Victorian era. In title, composition, and tone, The Anointed suggests a religious scene. In the absence of narrative details, however, the image could also be read as secular or even erotic.