Nicky, (U.S.M.C.), Presidio, from the Elton John AIDS Foundation Photography Portfolio I

About the Photographer

Grannan, Katy

American, b. 1969

Exploring the American West as a place that promises big dreams and infinite possibilities, Katy Grannan creates portraits of Californians whom she calls “new pioneers." These are individuals who exist on the fringe of ordinary society and have chosen to move across the country to Los Angeles or San Francisco seeking a new life in the progressive enclaves of these two west-coast cities. Themes of rebirth and the instability of identity run deeply through pictures of sitters that alternately appear adrift, comical, or withdrawn. 
 
The image Nicky, (U.S.M.C.) Presidio, from the series The Westerns is a portrait of a trans woman who served as a United States Marine Corps soldier when she was a man. Though Grannan met the majority of her subjects on the streets of Los Angeles and San Francisco, she found Nicky on the Internet, and photographed her over the course of three years. Grannan speaks of the subjects in her project as having a “courage to be born one way, and feel alienated from one's own body, and then live openly as someone new.” 

Katy Grannan holds a BA from The University of Pennsylvania (1991) and an MFA from Yale University (1999). Her work has been featured in numerous exhibitions including the Whitney Biennial (2004) and her works are held in collections at the Museum of Modern Art, NY and The International Center for Photography, among others. Her monograph Model America was published by Aperture in 2005.