He Asked. They Told.

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AFTER he posted the first seven pictures on his Web site, Jeff Sheng could not sleep.

“I kept getting up and checking my e-mail,” he said. “I was expecting to hear from someone in the military. What if they demanded information from me? Some of the people I photographed have been serving for 20 years. They could lose their pensions.”

Mr. Sheng, a photographer, had finished the first phase of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” a series of portraits of gay men and lesbians serving in the military, all of them in uniform and with their faces obscured in some way — by a hand, a door frame or by darkness. Some subjects turn their backs to the camera. In one image an airman who takes the pseudonym Jess sits on a hotel bed leaning forward. One elbow rests on his knee, his hand cupping his face to shield it from the camera. The portrait is pervaded by a sense of loneliness and isolation.

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” a self-published book (dadtbook.com; $24.95), had grown out of Mr. Sheng’s earlier project, “Fearless,” which featured large, glossy portraits of young athletes who are openly gay, bisexual or transgender. Since 2006, “Fearless” has toured more than 40 colleges and high schools in the United States and last month was shown at Pride House, a space created at the Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, for gay athletes to relax with family and friends.

“Fearless,” in turn, had grown out of the experience the photographer had playing tennis in high school.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/18/fashion/18sheng.html?th&emc=th