Brooklyn, NY– For trans identities, gyms and locker rooms can be complex spaces to navigate, from childhood memories of athletics to the gendered restrictions of athletic spaces. However, clothing brands like Nova Edge, a local trans-owned brand, and creative producers Miles Quezada and Liv Morgan understand that representation is critical and are keen to make an impact. The two teamed up recently for a photoshoot project titled Submissive. “I saw this retro picture of cis white gay men in a locker room and thought, what if we recreate that?” said Quezada. “As a transmasc, you can feel like an afterthought sometimes, and then you enter those spaces, and suddenly there’s a huge lens on you,” they added. 
With the continuous attacks on the trans community and trans people in sports, a photoshoot for a trans brand celebrating trans people of color in a queer-owned gym setting felt empowering to the models. “Entering the shoot, with a group solely formed by Trans people of color, I felt a sense of home, friendship, and immediate connection with all the guys in the space,” says model Caroli (Ro) Nalosco. While brands like Nova-edge can be beacons of representation in a cis-heavy world on social media, these shoots themselves often act as places for resource sharing, affirmation, packers, community, and even access to T if someone lost their health insurance. A lot of the models in the shoot either met at other shoots or were already following each other online. 
The photoshoot represents a beautiful reclamation of boyhood, capturing them exploring their masculinity in a space they’ve reclaimed. The shoot is intimate, but never overtly sexualizing; it shows the models as complex human beings celebrating their own identities without any limits on how/in what way they can exist.