Late last Friday, the New York State Senate passed a marriage equality act, making New York the sixth and largest state to legalize same-sex marriage — a momentous occasion Mayor Bloomberg called “a historic triumph for equality and freedom.” To celebrate the occasion — though it’s utterly embarrassing we’re just doing that in 2011 — here’s a look at the wonderful work of photographer Molly Landreth, profiled in Etsy’s lovely Handmade Portraits series.

For the past five years, Landreth has been documenting queer and transgendered life using a vintage 4×5 large-format camera. Her tender, poetic portraits aim to redefine what it means to be queer today, exposing her subjects’ most vulnerable and human sides.

Real strength and real tenderness at the same time, in one frame, is something that I go back to a lot. In queer relationships, there [are] so many times when it’s so tender and soft but, also, you have to have so much strength to show yourself and to be who you are.” ~ Molly Landreth

You can find Molly’s beautiful prints on Etsy.

HT @kvox