Fanciulla, meaning young girl, is a series of portraits following the femme, trans, and queer folk of my everyday. Individually, the subjects photographed each seemed on the threshold (or in the throws) of their most formative, expressive, and self-reflective years. I myself, also on this delicate threshold, found myself threatened by this newfound pressure, and whatever may come next. Along this, I was disturbed by the immortalized young women, “femme”-presenting individuals of Western art history: a plethora of images of vulnerable, sexualized, passive women. My own images therefore were an attempt to immortalize a specific moment, but one that was less concerned with the qualities of classic depictions of young women, and more with their ability to be active, and to finally be given a voice.

Embroidery by Maybe McInnis