Will you see me?

Photography by Megan Newton
Poetry by Hayden Dansky
Music by Hozier, performed by Matthew Cox

This project aims to capture and pause and hold what happens in the liminal space of transition. It is an attempt to shine light on the experience in the spaces between the to-do lists and physical labor, between the dysphoria and freedom. This piece specifically is an attempt to tell the story of the intersection between Hayden’s trans identity and the conflictual relationship with their mother that was eternally paused in time through her death.

Telling our stories gives words and space to the complicated and turbulent intersections in our lives so we know we aren’t alone in them. Because through that connection, we can continue to carve out space for our existence in a world not shaped to hold us, but destined to change. And through that connection, we continue to build faith that another world is possible, and that we deserve to have a voice in it.

Together we have decided to share this photo essay because there is a dearth of non-binary and transgender narratives in media; because being seen and heard is essential to the human experience, especially for marginalized people; because non-binary and transgender people are fighting every day, with every breath for acceptance. Our hope is that this art might transcend the fear that separates us from each other and from ourselves, reconnecting us to our humanness and to our deeply shared desire to be seen and understood, and to say to those who are struggling in unimaginable ways with their identity, ‘you are not alone’.