Are You OK?

For the past few years I’ve been terrified not just for myself and my queer community, but for the innocent and sweet young people who are the most directly affected by our nation’s incredibly dangerous anti-trans legislation. It has felt like a fire slowly burning underground for decades, and now the fire is here and it wants the destruction of innocent lives. I started ‘Are You OK?’ as a response to the fear and anger these bills awoke in me, as a way to pass the microphone to the kids and families who find empowerment in sharing their stories, and more importantly as a visual remedy to trans stigmatization.

People who live through trauma and pain cannot be photographed like everybody else. They must be elevated, they must be allowed to take up space. Through this series, and multi-volume book, I created the kind of trans portrait that I wanted to see – that of a person standing in their power, their support networks flanking them, unconditional love filling the frame and a brief moment where the sitter can breathe without fear of violence and without the burden of stigma. It’s a fictional space, but it is also healing. Not every trans child is fortunate enough to have such deep support, and not every trans child has the financial privilege to access affirming healthcare, or a safe place to live, food to eat and life free of violence or oppression. This series is about those that do, in hopes that the love they receive may spill over to those that need it most.

Before each portrait I do a short meditation exercise with each participant where we close our eyes, breathe into our most empowered selves, and show up together for a moment of self-actualization. In the past three years I have archived the first hand accounts of over 150 trans/non-binary youth from over half the states in the country.