Photos of sun-soaked euphoria at Sougia’s queer festival

Much of queer hedonism happens in the underworld. In city basements, crowds of bodies congregate beneath sweaty ceilings and come undone together. These spaces are survival mechanisms as much as pits of pleasure, holding the community together at times when visibility could mean danger. But queer euphoria doesn’t only belong to the dark.

One of the brighter spaces is Nature Loves Courage, a festival held in the tiny Cretan village of Sougia. “It’s important that we remind ourselves of what queer bodies look like out in the sun, out of the shadows,” says photographer Dani D’Ingeo, whose past work is well-versed in the sweat-drenched, after-hours intimacy of traditional club environments.

In this photo series, though, D’Ingeo brings a lighter lens to queer euphoria – capturing shots of partygoers drifting between the pebbled shoreline and open-air dancefloor, torsos slicked with salt and tattoos, and bodies held close in embrace. “My expectations were exceeded… it felt more like a euphoric extended club night put on by a bunch of friends.”

That intimacy is by design. Festival founder Abyss X built Nature Loves Courage in direct rejection of the club-industrial complex. “I grew up in the heyday of club culture in Europe in the 90s and early 00s, where clubs actually looked iconic and the atmosphere was electric, where promoters and club owners put a lot of effort into the presentation of the space and the party,” she says. “I needed to build my own playground and realise my personal vision of what a freeing and bonding clubbing experience feels like, driven by a true sense of community, body euphoria and the love for nature.”

There’s a real sense that D’Ingeo stumbled into something magical in Sougia. “One of my favourite shots from the series is the one of Martin and Fi getting inside the cave, their childlike marvel kept a mystery by the shadows of what was only there for them to see,” they say. “Another one of my favourites is the one of my friends Mahsa and Joey kissing on the floor after taking the splits. They made the whole crowd get down and get silly. London girls always know how to show up and show off!”

While much of the European festival circuit still defaults to the same sound, Nature Loves Courage tries to change that. “The line-up was stellar with mostly FLINTA DJs (something alas quite rare!) with cohesive but distinct sounds,” D’Ingeo explains. Abyss X’s curation is intentional: “Each year I curate a very mixy lineup that features sounds from different parts of the world including the Arab world, South and Central America, Asia, Africa and more, and covers a wide spectrum of dance music, like tribal tek, hardcore, electro, progressive or psy.” This year’s lineup included artists like Juliana Huxtable, Kilbourne and Fashion, all bringing euphoric BPMs to the shoreline. “I don’t focus on techno – in fact, I avoid it as much as I can.”

As with anything so magical, there’s a desire to keep the outside out, preserving what’s special at the centre. “When asked to document this festival, I immediately felt conscious of protecting its scale and authenticity,” D’ingeo explains. “I think the lens holds a lot of power and can fast forward culture very easily. I want to make sure that I’m sticking to reality as much as possible, only infusing a little magic but without boosting up the glamour.” This is particularly important in the queer club scene, commercialisation, reducing rights and sweeping eroding of queer club spaces means preservation is particularly important. “As a clubber myself, I am quite protective of dance floor spaces, and I believe documenting them is a historical archival practice that needs to know its limits. If the lens is disrupting the energy of the crowd, it’s not serving it. Instead, it can be a beautiful part of it, as bodies move together and perform for each other.”

Documentation of events like these only becomes more urgent in a climate where queer-led spaces are increasingly threatened. Nature Loves Courage recently lost its state funding from the Greek Ministry of Culture – a decision that places its future in jeopardy. Festival founder Abyss X puts it plainly: “Support your local promoters – the dancefloor is a political space – boycott the giant corporations, contribute to change!”