Rippled Reflections

In the past few decades discourse and extensive controversy has occurred regarding the topic of gender. Issues that have become specifically pertinent include the fight for transgender rights and the inclusion of non binary gender pronouns into our language. Currently, various governmental and political systems are in place that invalidate the existence and experiences of the 1.4 million Americans who recognize themselves — surgically or otherwise — as a gender other than the one they were born into. The Trump administration lead the Department of Health and Human Services to claim that, “The sex listed on a person’s birth certificate, as originally issued, shall constitute definitive proof of a person’s sex unless rebutted by reliable genetic evidence.” The result of this motion has lead to a lack of federal recognition for non cisgender people. In an attempt to represent this systematically oppressed group , my series Rippled Reflections consists of portraits of trans and non binary young adults in their living spaces. The portraits range from performative and provocative to softly genuine which seem to encapsulate the how one can see themselves and feel in spaces of comfort. Shot primarily in their bedrooms, these images are intended to oppose transphobia while making the claim that “these people exist.” Each subject shared their stories of navigating their gender identity with me and all of them seemed to agree that their process of presentation, representation, and identification is ever changing.