Empathetic portraits of India’s trans and non-binary youth

“For so many young queer and trans people, the world around us doesn’t reflect who we are,” says photographer Jitendra Jerry. It’s this absence of representation that forms the starting point for Who Am I?!, their ongoing portrait series documenting queer, trans and non-binary youth across India.

Spanning cities including Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata, Who Am I?! captures over 150 portraits of queer young people. Many participants were found through personal connections or discovered via dating apps like Hinge and Grindr – fitting, given how much the queer experience involves searching for connection in digital spaces. As Jerry says, “We grow up looking for fragments in friends, in online spaces, and we piece together our identities in the gaps.” Their own identity as a non-binary artist helped create a shared understanding, allowing the project to capture the community in an intimate light.

In India, queer and trans visibility still sits on the margins. Jerry explains, “When we are seen, it’s often through outdated or tokenistic lenses, either hyper-sensationalised or stripped of complexity.” For them, this project is their way of acknowledging and pushing back against these portrayals. They continue, “Around the world, there’s a growing urgency to challenge fixed ideas of gender and recognise that queerness and transness are not trends or disruptions, but deeply lived realities.” Although these identities have existed in India for centuries, “colonial, casteist, and patriarchal systems have worked to suppress them or box them into certain narratives”.

Who Am I?! joins a growing body of non-binary and trans-led art at a time when such documentation is more necessary than ever. It captures expressions of identity in India that remain largely absent from mainstream media. Jerry explains, “Western media has long shaped how we understand gender, often through narrow, stereotypical portrayals that leave little room for complexity.” These portrayals rarely reflect the realities of queer and trans lives in places like India. Stories from South Asia remain underrepresented globally, and when told, “they’re often filtered through a Western gaze that flattens our experiences or overlooks the cultural, political, and social contexts we live in.”

In the photos, we see the subjects scattered in tattoos, piercings and various other personalisations. Whether that be body hair, an eyebrow ring or a full neck tattoo, this exploration of the ways queer and trans youth express identity became a focal point of the project. Jerry explains, “It’s like armour and a way to hold the inner world and for some it’s instinctive and earthy, something that just feels right on the body.”

While many documentations of queer communities focus on visibility through nightlife, this photo series reveals a quieter, more intimate side of everyday life. Jerry explains, “Most queer people I photographed preferred quiet, private spots – close to nature or hidden corners in the city. I followed their lead, letting their comfort decide how and where I framed each image. Some I photographed in their personal spaces – I always asked where they would like to be shot, making sure the setting felt authentic to them.”

Among the portraits, some of Jerry’s favourites were taken in Yellapur, a small town in Karnataka. There, they photographed queer youth from the Siddi community – an Afro-Indian group with ancestral roots in East Africa, who have lived in India for centuries. “The Siddis have a unique history and culture, often overlooked in mainstream narratives,” Jerry explains. After connecting with locals through dating apps, they were welcomed into the everyday life of the community. Riding together through town on bikes, they shared stories and captured portraits by the dam.

With the project, Jerry was keen to create something that speaks directly to the people involved. “It’s not about performing identity for an outsider’s view. It’s about honesty, community, and capturing how gender is lived and expressed in India.” To translate this personal touch into their photobook, they worked alongside their friend Niloni, adding decorative motifs like thread, pins, leaves, and stickers to the images to give each one a personal, lived-in feel. Alongside the portraits, each participant was asked, “Who are you?” Their answers came in drawings, poems, and handwritten notes. “The book brings all of that together, showing how we find ourselves and each other in a world that often leaves us out.”

Visit the gallery above for a closer look.