Trans Futures-in progress

The Trans Futures project began where Savannah Ryan Williams’ life ended violently and prematurely in late November, 2023. A transgender woman beloved by her Minneapolis community, this project seeks to honor her life in celebrating the ways trans people create space for living and loving authentically in the face of overwhelming adversity.

Savannah’s murder drew me to search for a sense of safety in transness. I found it in photographing the small apartment I share with my trans partner. By the time the news had come out, it was the holiday season and I had put out my mom’s advent calendar and my partner’s hundred year old menorah. In these early images I found the efforts we make to find a foothold in the connected tradition of trans resilience. It is important for me to share these observations with trans youth to show them that there are futures for them in the ways we carve out spaces for ourselves in early adulthood.

Trans Futures’ comprises four diptychs, each showcasing a portrait of a trans adult and a still life of their home. As I photographed my sitters I would ask them to consider the thesis question of the project, “What has early adulthood given to your gender transition?”. I found a lot of community in these conversations; this is highlighted in the audio interview component that accompanies the installation’s 24”x32” archival pigment prints. Through the latter element, I sought to create a connection with the portraits and the viewer where the emotion could be read intuitively.

This series asserts above all else that trans life is to be revered and fought for. There are so many forces right now that find our capacity to reinvent self and communal love threatening. Even in this climate there are young trans adults discovering their futures, paving a way for teens to do the same in their own time. Trans Futures seeks to honor the light of Savannah’s life and transform the grief of her death into a beacon for trans children to find hope in.