On April 12, the photography exhibit “Safe State” by Jimmy Himes-Ryann opened at Bingo Studios art gallery in Albuquerque. The exhibit intends to explore through a visual medium what it means to be a transgender person in a “safe state.”
Himes-Ryann is a journalist, photographer and adjunct instructor in the communication and journalism department at the University of New Mexico. As they explained, much of the exhibit was inspired by state laws meant to protect seekers and providers of reproductive and gender-affirming care, leading many people to use the term “safe state” to describe New Mexico.
Through their work, Himes-Ryann questions — and invites others to question — what a “safe state” really means.
“I think when terminology like, ‘Oh, this is a safe state,’ is thrown around for people who are desperately seeking a safe state, it can be incredibly dangerous,” Himes-Ryann said. “It can be extremely irresponsible. And it's my perception that New Mexico is no more safe than anywhere else, just geopolitically.”
One piece in the exhibit, “45.9%,” is a triptych of black-and-white photos of crowds of President Donald Trump’s supporters taken at the October 2024 Trump rally in Albuquerque. Himes-Ryann chose the black-and-white presentation to remove the predictable red “Make America Great Again” hats as focal points of the photos, they said.
“A big part of the storyline in this show is the way that we talk about safe states versus unsafe states for certain people. I think we've gotten really used to the black-and-white, if you will, nature of the way that those electoral maps look — blue and red,” Himes-Ryann said.
The title of the piece comes from the vote in New Mexico that went to Trump during the 2024 presidential election.
“You see a state that you know may have voted for a policy that you agree with by an extremely thin margin, but on the map, it's going to show up bright blue or bright red or whatever,” Himes-Ryann said. “It's an incredibly misleading way that we present that sort of information.”
Another piece in the exhibit, “Protecting Our State. Protecting Each Other,” features two hours of body camera footage from state police officers at the UNM Student Union Building during last spring’s occupation and protest calling for UNM’s divestment from Israeli companies.
The placement of the footage — in a bar-covered window — forces the viewer to contemplate the varying meanings of policing and containment. Most directly, protesters are arrested in the footage. However, Himes-Ryann said one interpretation is that the officers are imprisoned within their ideologies and socially isolating roles.
“I think they're experiencing psychological abuse too,” they said. “They perpetuate it, and they receive it, and it's a cycle of abuse that exists. And I titled the piece just like their verbatim slogan.”
The exhibit’s centerpiece, titled “You are in a Safe State,” takes up an entire wall of the gallery. Covering the space are duplicates of an image of Siihasin Hope and Rakin Faruk, two local community organizers, in front of a security camera. Text overlaying the image reads “YOU ARE IN A SAFE STATE.” The image and its repetition invokes an almost Orwellian image of a propaganda and surveillance state, despite the superficial message of safety.
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Framed by the images is “Appeal to Heaven,” a photograph of a person at a school board meeting discussing book bans. She appears to be in anguished prayer, reminiscent of renaissance and baroque depictions of the Virgin Mary, hands to the sky and surrounded by larger, unbothered figures.
“It’s something that feels very visceral to me, and I think that it's also the piece that most intensely depicts a lack of safety,” Himes-Ryann said. “I see this person who is surrounded by a bunch of much bigger people, and she seems to be in a lot of pain, and they seem to be smiling. To me, she kind of embodied the whole idea.”
“Safe State” can be viewed at Bingo Studios until May 4.
Addison Fulton is the culture editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on X @dailylobo
