Video / Strangelfreak: A 20-Year Queer Photography Retrospective at House of Q, Stockholm

20 Years of Queer Lives is a photography retrospective by Strangelfreak (Luis Pedro de Castro), documenting two decades of non-heteronormative life, queer identity, and community. 

Developed in partnership with Transpond.se and House of Q in Stockholm, Sweden, this exhibition marks a milestone in queer documentary photography — and a first for House of Q, which invited Strangelfreak as its inaugural exhibiting artist.

The work spans 20 years of intimate portraiture and documentary photography, capturing queer bodies, performance culture, and the diversity of LGBTQ+ experience across Europe.

Strangelfreak: A 20-Year Queer Photography Retrospective at House of Q, Stockholm

In collaboration with Transpond and House of Q, I had the honour of being invited as the first artist to present a retrospective spanning 20 years of queer photography — two decades of documenting non-heteronormative life, gender fluid expression, and the raw, unfiltered intimacy of the people who make up my world.

Walking into the expansive venue, my mind filled with possibilities. What you see in these walls is not a curated fantasy of LGBTQ+ life — it is something far more personal. These are photographs of friends. Real people who opened the window to their private lives and allowed me to recreate a prejudice-free perspective on what it means to exist outside of heteronormative constructs.

Born in Portugal and based in Barcelona for over two decades, my work has always lived at the intersection of sexuality, spirituality, and identity. Studying photography in Barcelona led me deep into the world of gender fluid identities, post-porn theory, and queer performance culture. I began processing my images with digital manipulation inspired by Renaissance painting — not to beautify or sanitise, but to elevate. To take what society so often labels deviant and transform it into something closer to the divine.

"From a distance, SEX is just another word for Spirituality."

This retrospective at House of Q in Stockholm brings together work that spans queer art from Barcelona and beyond — photographs that celebrate individuality, challenge gender norms, and refuse to apologise for existing. To show this body of work in Stockholm, a city with such a vibrant queer culture and LGBTQ+ community, felt like a profound privilege. Barcelona and Stockholm share more than a twinned status — they share a fierce, ongoing commitment to queer visibility and Pride.

My hope is that this exhibition inspires others — wherever they are in the world — to celebrate their own identity, to see beauty in difference, and to understand that "Normality is an excuse for the unimaginative."

The exhibition is still on view. Below are some photos from the space.

Strangelfreak @ OFF Munich

Ausencia - Installation/Performance

I'm always excited about collaborating with others,

This time I was cordially invited to take part

in the second edition of  "Obra'Casa"

a multidisciplinary exhibition that takes part 

in buildings that are under construction.

It's been a while since I felt I should explore

other mediums to express my inner universe of connectedness

I teamed up with Nuno Vasconcelos(neuroscientist/performer)

 and João Xtrondo Guimarães (poetry/music)

So here you go, my first installation piece

along with videos from the rehearsal and the performance.

Enjoy !

"Ausencia - Debut"

Ausencia - Debut from Luis Pedro de Castro on Vimeo.

"Ausencia - Rehearsal"

Ausencia from Luis Pedro de Castro on Vimeo.

Maga - Illustration and Visual Arts Exhibition

For the second time, I got invited to 

Maga - an exhibition in Caldas da Rainha.

Seven locations around the city that

held work from some of the best

visual artists in Portugal.

The show featured work from

Mariana Miserável, Luis Favas,

Peter Overman, Nuno Bettencourt, 

Galderia, and the collective that organized 

Guimarães Noc Noc, Ó' da Casa

and the series Flowers of Desire,

the porno kaleidoscopic fantasy photos .

Flowers 1

Flowers 2

You can check the gallery with some photos of the events

Here

ChoCho

 

Chocho is Japanese for butterfly, 

and Portuguese for vagina,

so I thought it would be fitted for my first sculpture 

made with 52 Origamis made out of 80's porno mags.

Guimarães Noc Noc 2012

For the second time, Noc Noc

a festival dedicated to art on all fields comes to life in my hometown

Guimarães, this year's European Capital of Culture.

From photography to film, theater, dance, performance art 

all are welcome to this informal cultural intervention.

The 5, 6 and 7th of October,

you are invited to wander through the city with a special map and 

knock on the door of private houses, associations, shops, etc.

and discover a universe of 500 artists, 320 projects 

located in 70 different spaces, allowing you to discover the city 

from a very unusual perspective.

This year Japan is our guest of honor 

and you can see the work of around 25 invited artists.

This year, my photography retrospective

 is going to be shown at number 61 on the map.

 

Here are a couple of the postcards I made 

to help promote this festival that is created/coordinated 

with love instead of money .

Interview for Vice Magazine

Hey kids,

I got interviewed for  

Vice Magazine

and they liked it so much that I was invited to be 

guest collaborator !!!

you can check out the interview 

HERE 

http://www.vice.com/pt/article/68149

"Inner Beauty" Video - Self Portrait

 

Inner Beauty

Multivision Self Portrait

Strangelfreak @ Basso Berlin

Annie Sprinkle & Beth Stephens Silver Wedding to the Rocks

I'm really happy to debut

Annie and Beth's Silver wedding.

Every year these two forces of nature,

get together to celebrate their LOVE

for each other, and for our wonderful planet.

This year the ceremony was held at CCCB in Barcelona,

and I was invited, among other incredible artists,

to document their union to the ROCKS.

Instead of a gift, artists were invited

to show performance pieces 

as a testimony to our

ECOSEXUAL

LOVE

Some of this photos will be included 

in our surprising post-porn Book project.

WE REACHED OUR GOAL !

P&P

!