My portrait series, Student Body, documents a small portion of the trans and gender-nonconforming community at my historically women’s college in Appalachia. The project aims to highlight the existence and embrace of such communities in gendered institutional spaces across the country.  Each photo was made using Kodak Portra 400 medium format film. 

Historically women’s colleges have long been safe havens for cisgender women and trans folks alike, spaces where gender-nonconformity and gay partnership are accepted and encouraged by the student population and even faculty and administration. Nonetheless, the policy surrounding the admission of trans men and nonbinary individuals is highly exclusionary and inaccurate to the reality of the student body. My images intend to serve as both an indicator of gender diversity and a time capsule of the individuals photographed. To be trans is to be in a constant state of evolution. I hope that my love for each subject shines through.