Take queers, thousands of them; gather them in an idyllic location that combines nature and huge industrial sculptures during a hot summer weekend; add to the mix nonstop electronic music provided by DJ collectives from all over the world, art performances, workshops, and panel talks; and you’ve got Whole Festival. On the grounds of Ferropolis, a lakeside industrial park just a few hours outside Berlin, Whole’s sixth annual festival (and the fourth one I’ve personally attended) finds utopia in sex-positivity, in a community of people dedicated to the queer arts.

My personal Whole experience is a bit different than the average festival goer’s. As a photographer whose focus is the documentation of community, identity, desire and self expression, Whole is the ideal playground, as it’s a celebration of all these things. I don’t see Whole as work, but as a time to create, especially considering that my work is a lot about self-documentation. I’m not just an observer, I interact with the queers that I photograph.

Whole Festival is indeed about memories made among one’s friends and chosen family; the experience is, of course, individual, but the smiles on people’s faces as they exit the festival grounds on Monday morning make euphoria feel universal.