Danielle Levitt‘s monograph, 'We Are Experienced' (2008) took an unflinching look at the many guises of American teenagers, from the high school cheerleaders to the archetypal outsiders. Her latest project takes on new faces of youth, and her four transgender Latino subjects have a radically different take on what it means to come of age in inner-city New York. These teens have all looked in the mirror and felt a discord between the person they saw staring back at them and who they wanted to be. In video interviews after the fashion shoot for this month’s Dazed & Confused, the girls opened up to Danielle and shared their stories of what it was like to transition from male to female. While going through hormone therapy and saving up for surgeries, the girls are also dealing with shocked families and abuse from peers all while navigating the familiar teenage terrain of high school, dating and friendships. Danielle Levitt’s exclusive videos for Dazed Digital reveal intimate portraits of transgender teens pursuing their new identities, undaunted by the challenges they’ve come across.

Vanessa (top), 17, was raised in Brooklyn, Queens and Harlem and started transitioning two years ago. She has switched high schools three times because of peer abuse.

Isis (bottom), 21, chose to leave her friends and family and start her transition on her own. She lives with a group of girls who are going through similar experiences.