Visibility as Resistance: Queer Photography in the SCMA’s Collection
Neva Smith ‘29 is a Student Assistant in the SCMA’s Cunningham Center.
I interact with the museum’s collection on a daily basis and am privileged to get the chance to view all sorts of art, but no pieces have struck me quite like the pieces by Jesse Freidin, Jess Dugan, and Vanessa Fabbre. These artists travelled across the United States to document transgender people’s stories through photography and interviews, producing rich personal narratives of one of the most marginalized groups of people today. Jesse Freidin’s Are You OK? The Disappearing Faces of America’s Trans Youth, and Jess Dugan and Vanessa Fabbre’s To Survive on This Shore: Photographs and Interviews with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Older Adults, stand out as both queer research and artistry.
Noa, Age 24, Florida by Jesse Freidin depicts a young, queer, person of color dressed in black with a member of their support system behind them, dressed in white. The interview accompanied with this portrait can be accessed online, where Noa talks about what it’s like to be a trans person at a time when the United States is actively passing laws that target transgender rights. Despite these scary developments and social divide, Noa talks about the resilience of the queer community and the power inherent in visibility. You can read Noa’s interview and the other individuals’ testimonies here.
Jesse Freidin, Noa, Age 24, Florida, 2022, archival pigment print, SC 2024.15.3. Purchased with the fund in honor of Charles Chetham.
Dee Dee Ngozi, 55, Atlanta, GA, 2016 from To Survive on This Shore: Photographs and Interviews with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Older Adults showcases an older Black trans woman in a red dress, red feather boa, and red lipstick. In an accompanying interview, she speaks about her experiences with HIV and in establishing the first trans ministry in her church. Dee Dee went from being a sex worker to being honored by President Barack Obama at the White House. Despite being over seven years old, this project feels more relevant than ever considering the current state of transgender rights in the United States. The SCMA is lucky to have twelve photographs from this collection, and a wide range of Dugan’s other work.
Jess Dugan and Vanessa Fabbre, Dee Dee Ngozi, 55, Atlanta, GA, 2016 from To Survive on This Shore: Photographs and Interviews with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Older Adults, 2018, pigment print, SC 2018.16.11. Purchased with the Josephine A. Stein, class of 1927, Fund, in honor of the class of 1927.
These two pieces seem to be in unique dialogue with each other: over 30 years older, Dee Dee provides an example of the resilience and the visibility Noa spoke of in their interview. Additionally, the impact of seeing older queer individuals not just survive but thrive is powerful in its own right.
Reading through the testimonials along with the photographs, you can’t help but feel like you’re having a one-on-one conversation with these people. Hearing about their experiences with self-discovery, coming out to their families, romantic relationships, discrimination, and resilience is enough to make your eyes well up with tears. For queer visitors at the museum, these pieces can also provide a greater sense of belonging and welcoming in spaces associated with being inaccessible to the public.
The fact that these pieces exist in a museum context, institutions often associated with disconnection from everyday people, is incredibly significant. Museums and archives exist to record, collect, and display important pieces of history and culture. At a time when queer and transgender rights are at risk, museums can play a vital role in preserving these stories. Having pieces like Freidin’s, Dugan’s, and Fabbre’s visible in esteemed institutions shows solidarity with queer histories.