“Please do not throw trash directly in my face just because you don’t appreciate my existence!” That’s the story Vincent posted on his wall just a few weeks after I photographer her in Copenhagen. I ask them if they have encountered much hate like this, and he replies “Depends what ‘much’ is, but yes it happens once in a while. I’ve gotten very used to it over the years.”

Hate is gross. Why is it so scary for people to see another person who is different from them. Why do we focus on the differences and not the similarities? I do not know Vincent well, but surely Vincent and I have more in common that we do apart from one another. I have seen Vincent around Copenhagen for years. I’ve always found him to be very intriguing. A beautiful and handsome specimen of a human being. I reached out to her to ask if he would be interested in being part of my Context project.

Vincent was one of the first people I photographed for Context. And it was Vincent that made me come to the realization that I needed this to be more than just a one-and-done thing. I met up with them after she got off work and photographed him in beautiful light in the center of the inner city. Looking through the photos after, I was proud of what I had done. It had been a while since I had been pleased with my work. However, a few days later I was cycling back to my apartment down one of my favorite streets, and I see Vincent standing on the corner waiting to cross. She was wearing bright pink. I don’t recall the details. But I saw Vincent in a different light (literally and figuratively) than I had during out first meet-up. I texted him and asked if they would be available to meet in the coming days to take some more photos.

The next day I would meet up with Vincent in Den Sorte Plads (The Black Square). A cliché place to photograph, but I knew that the subject matter would outshine the setting. This time when I came home, I looked over the images and realized a bit of a metaphor in the setting I had chosen. Black and white. Contrast. No gray area. Vincent, however, became the gray area, and in the most beautiful way. No hard lines. No 0s and no 1s. A deep voice and a soft presence.

Vincent’s byline on their Instagram reads: “It’s fluid – All pronouns welcome.” As if to welcome themselves to interpretation by the viewer. A “I am who I am” and a “take it or leave it” kind of statement.

Regrettably I did not ask to photograph him in her home. That being said, I feel that showing Vincent out in the world, filled with confidence and pride in his appearance, is much more of a statement than showcasing them in the controlled environment of their home.
Thankfully I have never had to deal with trash being thrown in my face just for being myself. I’m not sure I would take it as well as Vincent has when it’s happened to them. Seeing what is happening around the world right now, chanting hate-speech in cities across the world, I applaud Vincent for one very important thing: For being proud to be themselves.