Beyond Gender

This collaborative photographic documentary portrait project explores issues associated with being transgender in Scotland in 2017. The project initially started life with the working title ‘My Cup of Tea’, but as the project developed and my understanding of transgender issues grew, I felt this title didn't do justice to the project. It seemed inappropriate and casual. After meeting and subsequently photographing a broad variety of people, albeit united by a common theme, I felt the title of this project had to, in some way, embody what was contained within their testimonies and my images. ‘Beyond Gender’ whilst not perfect seemed a better way to encapsulate this project. 

The transgender community in India, where I am from, faces discrimination in terms of employment, access to housing, education, civil partnership, adoption and medical requirements like HIV care, mental health care, treatment for substance abuse, and other surgical needs.  Whilst those from a more privileged background might find it easier to be accepted by mainstream society, for the majority, life can be very difficult.

Through my research into the transgender community in Scotland, I noticed that, to a certain degree, and despite being considered a more developed country, particularly in terms of LGBT+ issues, many of the transgender people I spoke to had experienced similar problems to their counterparts in India. Intolerance, use of pronouns and subsequent ignorance towards the trans community, a lack of mental health support, a lack of doctors who perform surgery on transgender individuals, body and gender dysphoria, suicide and self harming. In addition to my photographs I have produced a small booklet which contains stories and some intimate testimonies from the participants which relate to the issues stated above. Whilst my images could be understood in isolation, the addition of the text which is transcribed from conversations, is intended to bring viewers closer to what it means to be transgender today. 

Despite the difficulties and the challenges, I have enjoyed working with and learning from the participants and will forever be indebted to their generosity and patience. I want to continue working on this project when I return to India, and I’m looking forward to working with different communities and individuals and starting important conversations. I hope that my work might find a broad audience and in some way, make a difference. This project brought me a deeper understanding of the problems of the trans community and I’m honoured to have had the opportunity of working with such an engaged and brave group of individuals.

Read their stories: 
Han, James, James Morton, Kyle, Laura, Nico, Sean, Zee .