These kids may never have the opportunity to share their stories again
maybe, you know, and I want to do that for them.
Hi! I'm Maxwell Poth. I am a photographer here in Los Angeles, and I also run my
own photo project turned a nonprofit called Project Contrast.
I grew up in a
small town in Utah called Bountiful, Utah. All the struggling I had happened as a
teenager. So I definitely, you know, I feel like a lot of people have similar
stories. I definitely felt alone, not understanding why for a long time
because where I come from it's very cookie cutter. You have to have these
expectations to reach heaven and to reach an eternity with your family and
that's where all those social pressures come where I'm from. I felt alone mainly in
high school when I was learning to discover, you know, my sexuality and my
identity. Coming out, I was like, "Okay I'm out! I'm gay!" and then nobody listened to me.
I got sent to the principal's office and they ignored the fact of why I was
being bullied and that's when I feel like I felt the most alone, because even
when I tried to like fight for who I was in my community and really just tried to
show my true colors, it was just an empty room, and I went back in the closet actually.
I, you know, met one other gay kid in the town next to me and we
started talking, and he told me like how it's been for him and he started to help
me feel like I wasn't necessarily alone.
When I came out and I was the
only openly gay kid, I, it's funny that I'm sitting here right now because, you
know, I always watched the It Gets Better videos, and it really, obviously gave me
hope and they gave so many people hope. So, you know, that's why you're here today,
and you're still doing it, and still making an impact.
I decided to, you know,
go back and start photographing all these queer children, you know, all these
queer kids. Taking their photos and making them feel, you know, resilient and
beautiful and who they are and giving them that confidence they need. More kids
wanted to be involved and get their photo taken and share their stories and they
were meeting each other and becoming friends, that's when I knew in my heart that I
had to keep going, and that's when I decided
to give it a name, and I called it Project Contrast, and I decided to bring
my project to other states and other communities where these kids might feel alone.
I now travel the country, and I photograph queer youth, and I help
amplify their stories.
So when I was younger and I felt alone and, you know, I
cried myself to sleep, it was really difficult for me, and, you know,
fast forward now, I never imagined a life like this. I never even imagined I would,
you know, be working and sitting in a chair doing and it gets better video
after I watched these same videos years ago. Now I live in Los Angeles, California,
and I am working as a photographer, and I embrace being a gay man, and I embrace
being an artist in the lgbtq+ community, and I am–now it's my turn to give back.
My advice to you would be to one make sure it's safe.
Make sure you're in a community where, you know, you can come out and it's
safe for you, and you might have that chosen family and you might have that
opportunity to be who you are, and if you need to hold tight for a second longer,
that's okay, because it does get better, and I would also find your resources and
find the people that might be there, and it doesn't necessarily have to be a
person. It can be, you know, a center and there can be people there that can help
you or maybe a therapist or someone that can be your outlet to at least be
yourself until the time comes when you can fully and truly be the person you are meant to be.
Hi! I'm Maxwell Poth, and I'm here to tell you that it gets better!