JAN 30 | In Conversation: To Survive on This Shore

In Conversation: To Survive on This Shore
January 30, 2021 | Saturday 12pm (PST)
Online Event
FREE WITH RSVP

Please join us on Saturday, January 30 for a presentation and panel discussion about To Survive on This Shore: Photographs and Interviews with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Adults. Project creators Jess T. Dugan and Vanessa Fabbre will be joined by two participants, Caprice Carthans and Aidan Key, who will share their stories and speak about their experiences being part of the project. This program will be moderated by Terry Novak, Executive Director at Photographic Center Northwest.

About To Survive on This Shore:

For over five years, photographer Jess T. Dugan and social worker Vanessa Fabbre traveled throughout the United States creating To Survive on This Shore: Photographs and Interviews with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Adults. Seeking subjects whose lived experiences exist within the complex intersections of gender identity, age, race, ethnicity, sexuality, socioeconomic class, and geographic location, they traveled from coast to coast, to big cities and small towns, documenting the life stories of this important but largely underrepresented group of older adults. The featured individuals have a wide variety of life narratives spanning the last ninety years, offering an important historical record of transgender experience and activism in the United States.

The resulting portraits and narratives provide a nuanced view into the struggles and joys of growing older as a transgender person and offer a poignant reflection on what it means to live authentically despite seemingly insurmountable odds.

Jess T. Dugan:

Jess T. Dugan is an artist whose work explores issues of identity through photographic portraiture.

Dugan’s work has been widely exhibited and is in the permanent collections of over 35 museums throughout the United States. Dugan’s monographs include To Survive on This Shore: Photographs and Interviews with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Older Adults (Kehrer Verlag, 2018) and Every Breath We Drew (Daylight Books, 2015). They are the recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, an ICP Infinity Award, and were selected by the Obama White House as an LGBT Artist Champion of Change. They are represented by the Catherine Edelman Gallery in Chicago, IL.

Vanessa Fabbre:

Vanessa Fabbre is an assistant professor of social work at Washington University in St. Louis and was previously the Coordinator of Older Adult Programs at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois. Her research focuses on LGBTQ aging, specifically the experiences of transgender and gender expansive people in later life. Vanessa also teaches courses in social justice and direct social work practice with older adults.

Aidan Key:

Aidan Key is the founder and director of Gender Diversity, an organization serving families of trans and gender diverse children. He produces Gender Odyssey, the longest-running annual conference for families and professionals. TransFamilies.org, his newest endeavor, provides online support to families of gender diverse children across the nation.

Key is the co-author of Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: Children (Oxford University Press) and Gender Cognition in Transgender Children (Psychological Science). He is currently authoring a book, Trans Children in Today’s Schools (Oxford University Press, expected publication date, late 2021).

The Greater Seattle Business Association honored Key as the Humanitarian of the Year (2017) and The Pride Foundation, Ingersoll Gender Center, Chicago Black Pride, Seattle Out and Proud, have praised Key’s work as well. He has often been featured in the national media, including the Oprah Winfrey Show, NPR’s Diane Rehm Show, Al Jazeera America, Larry King Live, and Fresh Air with Terry Gross. Recently, Aidan was selected as one of Seattle magazine’s 2019 Most Influential People of the Year.

Caprice Carthans:

Caprice Carthans is a Trans advocate and author and has worked more than 30 years in the field of HIV and LGBTQ issues. Her early career included serving as the Trans Coordinator for Gay Men’s Health Crisis and as an independent consultant for Gay Men of African Descent and the Callen-Lorde Community Health Centers Brooklyn and New York locations. After a number of years on the east coast, Caprice relocated home to Chicago, IL. She served as a Housing monitor for Chicago House’s Translife Center and then as Peer Health Navigator for the Affordable Care ACT where she enrolled 327 individuals with 204 being of Trans experience. Caprice is currently a consultant serving at the Southside Help Center and the Coalition for Justice and Respect. She was the former Vice-Chair of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago’s Integrated Community Advisory Board (CAB) and currently serves as the Co-Chair of the Chicago Area HIV Integrated Services Council and Vice-Chair of the Christian Community Health Center’s CAB. Caprice serves as a member of the Northwestern University RADAR Study CAB, Southside HIV/AIDS Resource Providers and Black Treatment Advocates Network-Chicago. Caprice is a graduate of Chicago State University.