Black transgender people living in poverty are at the largest disadvantage in the United States, falling victim to attacks, murders, employment discrimination, healthcare inequities, and a total lack of resources. Black women of trans experience have a life expectancy of 32-34 years old. As the conversation on transgender experience moves closer to the forefront of American culture, the narrative often focuses on white transgender folx, while the brunt of the systemic and physical violence is done on black and brown bodies.
As language, access, and representation around the trans experience evolves I see fewer and fewer visual works that take a complicated and nuanced look at the lived experiences of transgender people of color.
My personal connection to this work comes from my own gendered experience. I believed for years that I was transgender, before having access to the language of gender non-conformity and gender fluidity.
My desire with this project is to document the physical aspects of transition as well as the psychological ones. To document the everyday acts of transgression and bravery that being trans demands, but to go below the surface. Exploring what it's like to be a trans woman who is forced to engage in survival sex while also being HIV positive. Or the difficulties of being a trans man working to recover from a sexual assault by another trans person. Through portraits, letters, audio, and prose I attempt to showcase that these stories are not monolithic but vibrant, beautiful and worth sharing.