Imag(in)ing trans partnerships: collaborative photography and intimacy

In this article, I argue that collaborative photography offers dynamic potential for imag(in)ing trans intimate partnerships beyond the authority of textual representation. I present five photographic and narrative case studies, spanning a range of trans partnerships in the UK, to demonstrate some of the complex ways in which bodies, genders, sexualities, and time intersect in trans intimacy. I argue that the photographs create an imaginative resource, both for the people depicted in the photographs and for those viewing the photographs, providing new possibilities for thinking about trans partnerships, expanding the ways in which trans intimate partnerships are imag(in)ed, and opening up new spaces of possibility for gender and sexual identities.