"What does it mean to identify yourself as 'transgender or gender fluid', in a world determined to define you as either male or female? In this challenging yet sensitive exhibition entitled Assume Nothing, TheNewDowse invites you to leave your preconceptions at the door and take a walk in the shoes of those who identify as 'alternatively gendered'.
This series of stunning portrait photographs by Rebecca Swan, and award-winning documentary footage by Kirsty McDonald, reveals both the extraordinary, and often very ordinary worlds of New Zealand's transgender community.
These portraits are of transgender peoples from all walks of life, and include well-known personalities such as performer Carmen Rupe, politician Georgina Beyers, Wellington activist and spokesperson Mani Bruce Mitchel and artist Shigeyuki Kihara. Assume Nothing is an exploration and true celebration of the complex world of gender diversity."
This exhibition was really powerful. It felt a bit sureal walking amongst the pictures. I think the pictures were honest and brutal. I don't often see other transgendered people and here I was in a room full of them in such bold starkness - many naked in all their imperfect glory. My thoughts were "these are my people". There was so much pride and 'mana' in those faces. I'm not sure what to feel. I had this massive sense of this is not pretty, this is not a nice thing, there is beauty here but it was an oddness about it, like I am used to us being hidden away or talked about behind our backs but there was none of that here. It was a little overwhealming. I wanted to tear of my clothes and stand there "I am one of them" but I also wanted to run, hide and cry "I am one of them".
