Portrait of Me and 39 Mile

Me and This Place: 2021 is the first instalment of a lifelong photo essay that tracks my medical gender affirmation and aging in the context of North Cascades National Park. Portrait of Me and 39 Mile is one of the self portraits I created over an eight day period at the beginning of September 2021. This was the first time I have ever been camping alone, and I backpacked a total of 49 miles. Every one to three years, for as long as I am physically able, I will return to the park to check in with the land and produce more photographs. North Cascades is one of the most glacier-dense places in the United States. Over my lifetime, it will change drastically as a result of human made climate change. Additionally, I intend to have more gender affirming surgeries and continue hormone replacement therapy, and over the course of this project, my body will become more feminine. As this essay grows, it will illuminate how one body and one piece of land morph over time.