Becoming Ourselves

Visit this exhibit from June 1 — August 8, 2025.
Join us June 12 for the opening reception featuring organizer and photographer Gwen Andersen and photographer Octavia Bloom

Trans and Nonbinary Joy

Beautiful, happy images of trans and nonbinary (T/NB) adults and children, selected by a panel of trans youth.

In 2024, a photography exhibit opened at a Unitarian church in Montgomery County. The exhibition, “Becoming Ourselves,” was the brainchild of Rockville-based photographer, Gwen Andersen.

With the help of a bequest from Andersen’s friend, Stevie Neal, a trans woman who lived in Montgomery County, and a drive to both represent and include gender-expansive people with the exhibit, Andersen secured funding, recruited photographers and subjects, and found a panel of trans youth from across the country to help curate the show. From its inception, “Becoming Ourselves” was envisioned as a vehicle for unapologetically joyful representations of trans and nonbinary (T/NB) individuals.

The result of those efforts is now on view at Third Space through mid-August.

According to researchers in 2022, “Data indicate that 82% of transgender individuals have consider killing themselves and 40% have attempted suicide, with suicidality highest among transgender youth.”

It’s clear that these sobering statistics come about, at least in part, due to frequent exposure to negative depictions of trans people in the media. Researchers at the Fenway Institute and Brown University found that consumption of trans-phobic media, or media that exclusively depicts of trans people as victims, was significantly associated with clinical symptoms of depression, anxiety, global psychological distress and post-traumatic stress disorder.

If negative representation is the source of the problem, the inverse is the antidote. Trans youth and adults need to see people like themselves in positive, happy depictions. The Trevor Project has noted “LGBTQ youth who lived in an accepting community, had access to LGBTQ-affirming spaces, and/or felt high social support from family and friends reported significantly lower rates of attempting suicide in the past year.” Catharyn Turner, an attending psychiatrist with the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Children’s Hospital Philadelphia, puts it this way: “Seeing images that reflect who you are, smiling and living your best life is inspirational. A picture says a‬ thousand words. I think if you see hundreds of thousands of words that illustrate ‘happy,’ that is inspirational‬ and inspiration becomes aspiration, and that becomes hope. Hope heals.”

Inspiration, aspiration, and hope are exactly what Becoming Ourselves is all about. Third Space at Shaarei Tfiloh aims to be a place where everyone sees themselves reflected back to them – whether on our walls, amongst our leadership or ‘in the pews’. We are honored to host this exhibit over the coming months.

This exhibit of photo portraits of trans and nonbinary people was organized by photographer Gwen Andersen. She envisions this project as an opportunity for the whole community: “People coming, celebrating trans and nonbinary (T/NB) friends, family, and community, is a way of showing love and support and creating the environment that will help T/NB youth — and adults — survive.”

When Andersen took photos for the show, she asked her subjects “what makes you happy?” and then worked to capture the joy of the answer. It started when Andersen photographed a friend sitting in her own beloved garden. Other portraits share joyful moments of blowing bubbles, teaching math, learning languages, fashion modeling and juggling fire.

The trans and nonbinary subjects of Becoming Ourselves range in age from preteen to senior citizens and include athletes and models, teacher and pastors, and all walks of life. The large-scale works were selected by a panel of trans youth from across the country and depict subjects simply living their lives: singing along at concerts, participating in their favorite sports, enjoying their embodied selves.

The lush, happy images of T/NB adults and youth in this exhibit offer positive and authentic images that work to dispel stereotypes and validate T/NB people’s experiences, identities, and their joy.

The exhibit will be on view through August 8. Join us for a gallery reception on Thursday, June 12, featuring Gwen Andersen and Baltimore photographer Octavia Bloom whose work is featured in the exhibit.