Interview: That time we appeared uncredited in Them magazine, with Carmen DeChristo

This interview was conducted in late October of 2024 in response to an article in online magazine: Them, published July 25, 2024, by James Factora. 

That article heavily revolves around a photo taken in the Woodbine / former Chapel during a rave organized by 2024 resident artists Pharmacy Girl + Vxmitspit. In the foreground of the photograph sits an elder couple with their backs turned toward the camera.

*I highly recommend looking at these gorgeous photos by Carmen DeChristo and to check out Factora’s interview. __________________________________________________________

Jackson: Tell me if this sounds good:
“Carmen DeChristo’s photography zine series American Girl Doll dreamily tours through ethnographic tableaus and magical realist portraiture of queer party cultures across Midwestern and Southern sprawls. Often interspersed are portraits that explore queer imaginaries found inside domestic private spaces, nature, the totally rural, and alt spaces formed across the heartland’s micro-scenes.”

Carmen: Yeah, sounds good.

Jackson: So, tell me about your current tour and how it ties into your photography practice.

Carmen: The current tour is for my fourth American Girl Doll zine, which I just released in June—during Pride Month, actually. I had gone on a tour in May, then returned to New York, but I wasn’t feeling super creatively inspired beyond making the next zine. I wasn’t really creating new images. The place where I felt most inspired during the first tour was Louisville, so I decided to do it all over again and see what I could create.

The cool thing is that the project feeds itself. I travel to these places to share the zine, and while I’m there, I make new work. That work goes into the next zine, and so on.

Jackson: That’s really cool. Are you from the Midwest or the South originally?

Carmen: I’m from North Carolina, a really rural area. I live in Brooklyn. Bed-Stuy, especially, reminds me of Old Louisville. If downtown Louisville is Manhattan, Old Louisville gives me major Brooklyn vibes.

Jackson: That’s funny. So, do you feel like this tour has changed your perspective on your work or your understanding of culture? Or are you more focused on going deeper into the project itself?

Carmen: A bit of both, actually. The deeper I get into the project, the more inspired I am to make intentional images rather than just taking snapshots. The project will always be a mix of both, but when I create the zine—whether it’s composed of tableau images or snapshots—I format it in a very methodical and deep way. That’s when I really get to dive into it.

When I’m traveling, though, it’s more about connecting with communities and seeing what inspires me. I leave myself open to new things and moments of enlightenment. That’s one of the main reasons I started this tour in the first place. I’m fascinated by queer communities and any kind of communal effort. Traveling outside of New York has shown me how people thrive in different spaces, and that’s been inspiring for my work.

Coming from a rural area, I always felt like I had to leave to find community. Returning to places like this and seeing people thriving—people like me and others at the forefront of booking events—has been really cool.

Jackson: Tell me about that photo of the older couple in the chapel.

Carmen: Oh, yeah. That’s such an interesting image.

Jackson: So, the man in the couple is Bill Walsh, the first executive director of the former Chapel of St Philip Neri, and the woman is his high school sweetheart, wife, mother of all his children, a force of nature Alice Walsh.

Carmen: Wow, that’s crazy!

Jackson: Yeah. He used to visit the chapel every other day but can’t anymore. She won a grant to restore the stained glass windows in 2007. That photo is really meaningful to people who know their story and the chapel story.

Carmen: I’m so glad I have that image now that I know the backstory. It’s such a powerful snapshot.

Jackson: Totally. It’s fascinating how an image like that can carry so much weight.

Carmen: Yeah, people often ask about it. Some even think it’s fake, which is wild because I’ve never done digital renderings. That moment was a gift from the space itself. I couldn’t have imagined it.

Jackson: It’s definitely one of those images that captures something bigger.

Carmen: Absolutely. To me, it signals intergenerational solidarity—something I want to encourage through my work.

Jackson: Those elements coexisting make it so meaningful. It’s not a super controversial image, but the subtext feels layered.

Carmen: Exactly. It’s just a snapshot of a party that happened to be in a church. But, back to your earlier question about getting caught up in the meaning of images or finding enlightenment: for me, the magic often happens after I get the shots back. In the moment, I wasn’t thinking about all the layers of context, but I instinctively knew to take the image. That’s a reflection of my artistic intuition—what I gravitate toward subconsciously. Then later, I dive into it and shape the zine in a way that tells the story I want to convey.

I don’t want my work to feel overly commercialized. Selling online and having a larger inventory has been cool, but I also want to keep the project accessible. I like oscillating between artistic exclusivity and hyper-accessibility. It’s something I think about a lot.

Jackson: Totally. I get that. I’ve struggled with similar decisions for my music project. At first, I didn’t want to put our music online. I thought they should only exist as physical media or require some interactive process you have to go through.

Carmen: Yeah, I can relate. But as my project grows, I’m realizing I can have both. Older volumes of my zine can remain exclusive, while newer ones can be more accessible and fresh. Right now, I’m working on the fifth volume, and I want to shoot part of it here in the chapel. I’m really excited about it.

Jackson: That sounds amazing. I’m excited to see how it turns out.

Carmen: Thanks! By the way, tell me about the event you’re working on for Trans Day.

Jackson: Oh, yeah, it’s for a compilation album called Transa. Red Hot has been doing these albums since the ’90s. The first one was a public awareness campaign for AIDS organizations and featured rare Cole Porter recordings. This new album focuses on awareness for trans organizations, while also recognizing the leadership of trans folks in arts and culture. [Support us by buying one of the posters made by Patrick Masterson Letterpress]

Carmen: That sounds incredible. Is it all new music?

Jackson: Yeah, it’s a mix of new work and contributions from various artists. It’s a really stacked lineup.

Carmen: And you’re playing the whole album live?

Jackson: Yeah. The event includes a four-hour album playback, a two-hour live show, and an afterparty. The performances lean toward performance art and experimental sound art. There’s dance music for the afterparty.

Carmen: That sounds like such a fun mix of styles and vibes.

Jackson: Definitely. It’s bringing together pop, sound art, and the youth queer rave scene. It’s going to be such a vibrant and diverse event.

Carmen: Events like this are where culture gets really rich—when different genres and communities cross paths.

Jackson: For sure. It’s also a chance for different age groups and interests to mingle. Like, the gallery crowd might come for the show, but then the queer crowd rolls in for the afterparty.

Carmen: Totally. It reminds me of that photograph I took.

Jackson: Yeah, it’s a similar vibe.

Carmen: I’d love to print that photograph on a larger scale someday—like the size of this table.

Jackson: That would be amazing.

Carmen: I have the zine with me downstairs. I should bring it up and show you. The photo looks gorgeous printed, but I’d love to see it as a giant print.

Jackson: Absolutely. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Carmen: Not much, just that everyone should [check out the documentation from the Transa event].

And shoutout to KXD for organizing these incredible events like the American Girl Doll tour at B-Sides.

Jackson: They’re doing such cool work.

Carmen: Yeah, it's such a vibrant artistic community here in Louisville. I’m even thinking of getting a place here to be part of it. This chapel was the first place I really found that community, so I’m super grateful for it.

Jackson: That’s amazing. Thank you for coming in and chatting.

Carmen: Thank you! 

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Bill Walsh recently stepped down from the board after over 20 years of service to this building and dedication to his neighborhood. Continue his and Alice’s legacy by contacting us to learn more about opportunities to join our board and advisory committees.