Intersex Awareness Day 2020

On April 17th, 1997 I arrived on the Harvard campus in Cambridge Massachusetts to photograph Alex Myers. I was excited about the prospect of making portraits of intersexuals for Newsweek, but not quite sure how I would do so.

The sitters had been through traumatic childhoods, born with both sexes, their gender was assigned to them by doctors as newborns, usually in a fashion that was, frankly, the most medically convenient. But each seemed to deal with it differently. Alex (the top photo) was almost Zen, recognizing their challenges, but taking each day as it came. 

Max (the second picture) had recently decided to identify as male, and was open and curious about my viewpoint on masculinity. We talked about role models and I was happy to say that I still sought strong positive male figures to emulate. 

Riki Anne (third image) was the angry activist. Wearing a “Transexual Menace” t-shirt and welding a cleaver, the goal was to shock and provoke. 

I felt honored to have had a chance to work with and spend time with these people who had a unique struggle, and were willing to share it with me. I am thinking of them today, Intersex Awareness Day 2020.