Jess T. Dugan is a writer, videographer, and photographer specializing in portraiture. Their exploration of identity, specifically gender nonconformity, is more than proven by their extensive oeuvre. In the To Survive on This Shore series, Dugan photographs and interviews older transgender people from all over America getting their likenesses and their stories as to how they discovered they were transgender. The photographs are in color and black and white and feature the sitter in an often intimate but empowering pose, sometimes with a caretaker or partner. The images capture both the likenesses of the sitters but also their personalities, what makes them individual and worthy of attention. In some ways, this series is a continuation of Opie’s exploration of gender in her work. Furthermore, Dugan’s series of couple portraits are reminiscent of Opie’s own straight, sobering self-portraits. In the series Coupled (2006-2008), queer couples sit directly in front of the camera with unsmiling faces. The background is a dull red color that warms the whole picture and connects each image in the series. From the relaxed but serious poses to the simple, unadorned backdrop, these images seem to be a natural continuation of Opie’s series. Their work aims to creatively represent queer identity while also circumventing the negativity that is associated with diverse and divergent gender and sexuality expression.