“Dyke Deck” by Catherine Opie

…so somehow this vintage deck of lesbian-themed playing cards made it all the way from Los Angeles to a christmas market in middle-of-nowhere Japan and into my hands today.

[“Dyke Deck” by Catherine Opie] were sold at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles but are SOLD OUT. Includes 52 playing cards, 2 jokers, instruction sheet, and case. Opie created this humorous deck to explore the issue of the lesbian body in photography. Many of the women in the photos are friends of Opie’s while others came to an open call in San Francisco. In the “Dyke Deck” Opie divided up the imags into four categories to correspond with the four suits: couples are hearts, jocks are clubs, femmes are diamonds and butches are spades.

 

as a lover and enthusiast of black & white photography and queer person myself, this feels a bit like that thing some people call “fate”? it’s still factory shrink wrapped and everything and i got it for a measly 800yen ($8) when apparently it sells for up to $100? which makes the collector in me not want to even open it now, goddamnit. sigh!