A poignant exploration of the lives of transgender and gender non-conforming older people

The city of Minneapolis may have unwittingly been at the heart of the racial uprisings that swept across the United States in 2020, but an exhibition of photographs at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) the same year proved that the city is also leading the charge on other aspects of social change.

The exhibition, ‘Vision 2020: Jess T Dugan’, presented a series of large-scale portraits of transgender and gender-expansive older adults by the photographer Dugan, who had been working on a book specialising on the subject matter since 2013. The book, To Survive on This Shore: Photographs and Interviews with Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Older Adults, features interviews with and portraits of 65 sitters in their homes or personal spaces across the country. A joint effort between Dugan and her spouse, Vanessa Fabbre, a social worker and assistant professor at Washington University in St Louis, the pioneering tome elegantly articulates the triumphs and struggles to be found in each subject’s journey and experience (and is currently sold out).

‘We knew there was a lack of representation of transgender people in general – especially transgender older adults – and we wanted to fill that gap,’ Dugan shares. ‘We had heard from younger transgender people that they had never seen images of transgender older adults and they lacked a roadmap for what their life might look like as they aged. Simultaneously, we were aware that, in many cases, transgender older adults were directly responsible for the progress around gender and sexuality that we benefit from today. We wanted to record and preserve that history before it was too late.’

Dugan and Fabbre had one simple criterion when it came to looking for their subjects. ‘The only requirement for participation was that the participants self-identified as transgender or gender-expansive and were over the age of 50,’ says Dugan. ‘Beyond that, we were committed to including a diverse array of people and intentionally sought out subjects whose lived experiences exist within the complex intersections of gender identity, age, race, ethnicity, sexuality, socioeconomic class, and geographic location.’

The beautifully varied body of work, which showcases individuals in their homes, places of work or parks, accompanied by partners or cherished objects, dressed normally or to the nines, is a quiet, yet powerful celebration of the challenges the LGBTQ+ community has been overcoming for years. With a subject in her nineties also included, the book is a powerful testament to how long and complex the LGBTQ+ movement is.

At MIA, ‘Vision 2020’ comprised eight portraits – seven of which were promised gifts to the collection and the eighth, a portrait of Minneapolis council member and political activist Andrea Jenkins, was donated by Dugan and the Catherine Edelman Gallery in Chicago. The exhibition was curated by Casey Riley, the institute’s head of the Department of Photography and New Media.

‘Exhibiting this work in Minneapolis is especially meaningful to me and Vanessa, following George Floyd’s death,’ Dugan said at the time. ‘Many of the participants, such as Andrea Jenkins, are trans people of colour whose courage and hard work demonstrate the power of activism to affect social change.’

Dugan’s body of work also exists as a limited-edition portfolio that’s been designed for university and teaching museums’ use. The full interview transcripts have also been donated to a variety of archives.

‘My work does not attempt to provide definitive answers; rather, it invites viewers to engage with others in an intimate, meaningful way, requiring them to reflect on their own identities in the process,’ Dugan concludes. ‘I hope that my photographs both validate those within queer communities and educate those who are not LGBTQ or who may be unfamiliar with LGBTQ people.’

INFORMATION

tosurviveonthisshore.com

jessdugan.com

new.artsmia.org