Representations of older transgender people are nearly absent from our culture and within artistic realms, and those that do exist are often one-dimensional. To Survive on this Shore combines photographs of transgender and gender non-conforming people over the age of fifty with interviews about their life experiences in regard to gender, identity, age, and sexuality and provides a nuanced view into the complexities of aging as a transgender person.

This interdisciplinary project is a collaboration between Jess T. Dugan, photographer, and Vanessa Fabbre, PhD, LCSW, a social worker and Assistant Professor at Washington University in St. Louis, whose research focuses on the intersection of LGBTQ issues and aging.

Since 2013, they have photographed and interviewed over 80 people throughout the United States, intentionally seeking out subjects whose lived experiences exist within the complex intersections of gender identity, age, race, ethnicity, sexuality, socioeconomic class, and geographic location.