Obscure Dream Liberation
“Obscure Dream Liberation” latest series by gay photographer.
“I don’t paint dreams or nightmares, I paint my own reality.”
―
“Obscure Dream Liberation” is a series born from the intimate terrain of dreams, where the subconscious becomes the ultimate source of creativity. In this space, there are no rules—only the fluidity of imagination and the freedom to explore inner landscapes. For me, dreams are not simply fleeting visions of the night; they are powerful reservoirs of energy, inspiration, healing, and personal liberation. They offer the most profound opportunity for self-connection, allowing the hidden layers of identity and desire to surface in ways that transcend the boundaries of waking life.
As a queer photographer, my work is deeply rooted in the exploration of LGBTQ+ identity and the liberation of the self through art. This series reflects a newly discovered style that moves beyond the conventional perspectives of traditional photography. By merging the precision of the lens with the fluidity of painterly abstraction, I seek to dissolve the rigid categories of medium and genre. Many viewers and critics have described this body of work as a fusion between photography and painting—a hybrid form that resists easy classification and instead invites the viewer into a liminal space where reality and dream intermingle.
The images in “Obscure Dream Liberation” are not meant to be read as literal narratives but as visual meditations. They are fragments of subconscious journeys, translated into color, texture, and form. Each photograph is both a document and a transformation: a record of inner vision and a reimagining of what photography can be when freed from its traditional constraints.
This series is also an act of queer resistance. By embracing the dream as a site of liberation, I challenge the normative structures that often confine both art and identity. Dreams allow us to imagine worlds beyond oppression, to heal from histories of trauma, and to envision futures of empowerment. In this way, “Obscure Dream Liberation” is not only a personal exploration but also a collective offering to LGBTQ+ communities—a reminder that art can be a vessel for resilience, beauty, and transcendence.
A limited selection of works from this series is presented here, inviting viewers to step into the dreamscape and experience the liberation that emerges when boundaries dissolve and the subconscious speaks in its own language of light and shadow.
Although many of the images created by Boston-based gay photo artist Dmitriy Gushchin have been banned by Instagram and other platforms under the label of “containing nudity,” Dmitriy views this as part of a broader pattern of anti-LGBTQ censorship. What began as his visionary series “Obscure Dream Liberation” has unexpectedly evolved into what he now calls the “Instagram Nightmare”—a confrontation with the limits imposed on queer artistic expression in digital spaces.
At present, Dmitriy’s Instagram account is “shadow blocked,” appearing private to non-subscribers and restricting visibility of his work. Yet this suppression only underscores the urgency of defending LGBTQ+ rights and freedom of expression. Art should never be silenced for its honesty, vulnerability, or celebration of queer identity.
By subscribing and following accounts like Dmitriy’s, you stand in solidarity with queer artists who refuse to be erased. He is not alone—this is a collective struggle, and every voice matters. Together, we can resist censorship and affirm the power of queer creativity.
You can read more in the article linked below.
You can check the article by clicking the link: https://www.advocate.com/business/instagram-shadowbanning-lgbtq-content . Please support your favorited gay photographer and LGBTQ photo artist community by expressing your opinion to Instagram and other anti-gay social networks. Your opinion hopefully can make the difference!
Forest of Psyche
Dmitriy Gushchin, photographer. Forest of Psyche draws on the ancient Greek meaning of psyche—both “butterfly” and “soul”—to explore queer transformation and self-awakening. In a radiant forest, a figure in vivid red attire reaches toward a hovering hybrid form that merges butterfly grace with mechanical futurism. This encounter becomes a metaphor for the soul’s unfolding, where queer identity is not hidden but summoned into brilliance. Blending mythology, ecology, and speculative fantasy, the work celebrates the LGBTQ+ imagination as a powerful force capable of reshaping worlds—and revealing the luminous, ever-evolving self.
Sub Rosa
Dmitriy Gushchin, photographer. Sub Rosa reimagines the traditional symbol of the rose—long associated with secrecy, desire, and forbidden truths—as a site of queer revelation rather than concealment. Set within a surreal grotto, two figures inhabit a dreamlike space where ritual, vulnerability, and sensuality intertwine. A vortex-like rose blooms overhead, casting the scene in luminous color and transforming the grotto into a sanctuary for queer intimacy and self-expression. Through its blend of mythic imagery, theatrical pose, and digital surrealism, Sub Rosa celebrates the courage to bring queer desire out of secrecy and into a space of beauty, connection, and unapologetic presence.
Nirvana
Dmitriy Gushchin, photographer. Nirvana envisions a queer cosmos where transcendence, embodiment, and chosen connection exist beyond earthly limits. Set against an otherworldly landscape of red stone and celestial skies, the figures inhabit states of meditation, levitation, and ecstatic suspension. Their luminous energies—expressed through glowing currents, vibrant color fields, and cosmic motion—echo both inner awakening and collective liberation. In this expanded universe, queer bodies become agents of serenity, power, and possibility. The composition weaves together spirituality, sensuality, and science-fiction aesthetics, suggesting that queer nirvana is not an escape but a reclamation: a space where identity dissolves into pure presence and where multiplicity, desire, and imagination can thrive without constraint. Nirvana celebrates the infinite ways LGBTQ+ people create worlds of their own—sacred, cosmic, and radically free.
Levitation
Dmitriy Gushchin, photographer. Levitation depicts a single queer self in three simultaneous states—sleeping, rising, and suspended—capturing the fluid multiplicity that emerges within lucid dreaming. Beneath a radiant moon and a night sky where a colossal watch mechanism dissolves into stars, time becomes elastic and identity becomes expansive. The figures share a breath of multicolored light, symbolizing dialogue between different layers of consciousness and the transformative power of queer self-awareness. Resting on organic roots yet drifting toward the cosmic, Levitation celebrates the ways queer people navigate inner worlds—shaping themselves through imagination, intuition, and the freedom to dream with intention.
Stellar Pin-up
Dmitriy Gushchin, photographer. Queer version of pin-up art.
Place to step forward
Dmitriy Gushchin, photographer. Place to Step Forward depicts a queer figure poised at the edge of a vivid red canyon, captured in the act of stepping into a new phase of selfhood. Behind them, translucent after-images echo previous versions of the self—identities explored, shed, and transformed. Their towering heels and cage-like attire embody queer defiance, elegance, and the power of intentional self-creation. Beside them trots a small golden robotic dog, a fantastical companion that adds warmth, humor, and a touch of futurism. Above, a surreal hybrid of butterfly and watch mechanism drifts through a cosmic sky of nebulae and distant planets. This celestial creature symbolizes both metamorphosis and the passage of time, capturing the ongoing evolution of queer identity. The work celebrates the bravery of stepping forward—claiming space, embracing transformation, and walking boldly into a universe shaped by authenticity and imagination.
Death and the Maiden
Dmitriy Gushchin photographer. Death and the Maiden reimagines the iconic motif—echoing Schubert’s String Quartet No. 14 in D minor and centuries of artistic interpretations—through a distinctly queer lens. In this surreal domestic tableau, the same figure appears twice: one blurred in motion, reaching outward as if resisting inevitability, and the other seated in crystalline regalia, poised with a calm, enigmatic authority. The duplication of the self explores the tension between vulnerability and empowerment, fear and acceptance, mortality and transformation. The room glows with spectral colors and swirling energies, suggesting unseen forces and internal battles. Rather than portraying death as an external reaper, the piece frames it as an intimate part of queer becoming—a confrontation with past selves, societal pressures, and the expectations that must be shed to live authentically. Death and the Maiden becomes a meditation on queer resilience: a dance with one’s shadows, a negotiation between surrender and defiance, and ultimately a recognition that transformation—like music—resonates through every version of the self.
Magic Mirror
Dmitriy Gushchin, photographer
Sweet!
Dmitriy Gushchin, photographer
Rococo dream number 5 with jade crocodile
Dmitriy Gushchin, photographer. Rococo is definitely the queerest period of history and art. Here is my tribute.
Turandot 3000
Dmitriy Gushchin, photographer
Specter
Dmitriy Gushchin, photographer
Ice Cream
Dmitriy Gushchin, photographer
Railroad
Dmitriy Gushchin, photographer
Poison
Dmitriy Gushchin. photographer
Milk Shake
Dmitriy Gushchin, photographer
To Be
Dmitriy Gushchin, portrait photographer
LDR
Dmitriy Gushchin, photographer. This artwork is about Long Distance Relationships (LDR) where Lovers have a magical connection they desire for, overcoming distance, time and cruelty of global political and economic situation.
Without you
Dmitriy Gushchin, photographer
Great Expectatios
Dmitriy Gushchin, photographer
Poet and Muse
Dmitriy Gushchin, photographer
Femme Fataie
Dmitriy Gushchin, photographer
Fighting Dragons
Dmitriy Gushchin, photographer
I wanna be loved by you
Dmitriy Gushchin, photographer
Rapture
Dmitriy Gushchin photographer Boston based photographer explores the feeling of rupture in magic realism artwork. This Image doesn't contain nudity and talks about basic human feelings, but most of social media sites banned the image in violation of "Community Guidelines". The artist believes the ban came rather in violation of LGBTQ+ rights as Instagram and other sites peruse on every day basis. The other much more provocative and really nude non-LGBTQ photos are OK on Instagram! Welcome to hate-free site where you can enjoy LGBTQ art without censorship!
Taboo
Dmitriy Gushchin photographer This work of queer artist is about "forbidden passion" as a basic human right. The representation of queer sexuality in modern American media is disproportionally tiny in compare to the straight world. Many (if not the most) topics of queer sexuality are being avoided at all. Many media giants like Instagram actively "shadow ban" queer content. So open talk about queer sexuality is still "Taboo" and this artwork is a rebellion against such "norms".
Aplause
Dmitriy Gushchin, photographer
Champagne
Dmitriy Gushchin photographer Boston based LGBTQ photo artist was inspired by art of magic realism and old fashioned champagne commercials with his addition of queer esthetics.
Don’t tell Mama
Dmitriy Gushchin, photographer
Waiting for Gabriel
Dmitriy Gushchin, photographer
I Put a Spell on You
Dmitriy Gushchin photographer Boston based artis was inspired by the famous song with the same title.
Merman’s Dream
Dmitriy Gushchin photographer This composite portrait is Boston based gay photographer's take on complexity of modern queer body representation in the world of magic realism.
Uncanny Forest
Dmitriy Gushchin photographer This photo came as an expression of feelings of tragedy, loss and violation in a world of ecologic and military disaster by the language of magic realism.
No News from God
Dmitriy Gushchin photographer "No News from God" is Boston artist's expression about pain and agony of LGBTQ+ community and the whole humanity in a face of war.
Love Melancholy
Dmitriy Gushchin photographer
Monkey Me
Dmitriy Gushchin photographer "Monkey Me" is inspired by the song of Mylene Farmer
Lost on You
Dmitriy Gushchin photographer
Bewitcher
Dmitriy Gushchin photographer Boston based photographer created artwork about love spell in magic realism photo. This is yet another photo which doesn't contain any nudity and banned by Instagram. The artist believes the ban came rather in violation of LGBTQ+ rights as in the artist's opinion Instagram and other sites peruse on everyday basis. The other much more provocative and really nude non-LGBTQ photos are OK on Instagram! Welcome to hate-free site where you can enjoy LGBTQ art without censorship!
Alchemy of Love
Dmitriy Gushchin photographer Boston based queer photographer artist explores BDSM side of gay lifestyle. This is yet another photo which doesn't contain any nudity and banned by many social networks like Instagram. The artist believes the ban came rather in violation of LGBTQ+ rights as in the artist's opinion Instagram peruses on everyday basis. The other much more provocative and really nude non-LGBTQ photos are OK on Instagram! Welcome to hate-free site where you can enjoy LGBTQ art without censorship!
Bestowal
Dmitriy Gushchin photographer Boston based gay photographer artist explores gender fluidity in surrealism style.
Spider
Dmitriy Gushchin photographer For this photograph Boston based artist was inspired by nightmares, arachnophobia and Tarot cards. This is yet another photo which doesn't contain any nudity and banned by Instagram. The artist believes the ban came rather in violation of LGBTQ+ rights as in the artist's opinion Instagram and other sites peruse on every day basis. The other much more provocative and really nude photos which are non-LGBTQ are OK on Instagram! Welcome to hate-free site where you can enjoy LGBTQ art without censorship!
Private Dancer
Dmitriy Gushchin photographer Boston based LGBTQ photo artist in a memory of Tina Turner. This is yet another photo which doesn't contain any nudity and banned by Instagram. The artist believes the ban came rather in violation of LGBTQ+ rights as in the artist's opinion Instagram and other sites peruse on everyday basis. The other much more provocative and really nude non-LGBTQ photos are OK on Instagram! Welcome to hate-free site where you can enjoy LGBTQ art without censorship!
Seance
Dmitriy Gushchin photographer This photograph is a humorous portrayal of high class obsession with communication with spirits in the beginning of 20th century.
Farewell
Dmitriy Gushchin photographer The title tells by itself. This supposed to be gay love story but it is yet another photo which doesn't contain any nudity and banned by Instagram. The artist believes the ban came rather in violation of LGBTQ+ rights as in the artist's opinion Instagram and other sites peruse on every day basis. The other much more provocative and really nude photos which are non-LGBTQ are OK on Instagram! Welcome to hate-free site where you can enjoy LGBTQ art without censorship!
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