Collected Item: “[ MIROR ]”
Your Name
Audrey Bären
Your Pronouns
She
Work Title
[ MIROR ]
Work Year (We are not accepting images older than 5 years)
2022
[Image Rights] Do you confirm that you hold the rights to this image?
Yes
[Eligibility] The Curve Photo Contest proudly centers and uplifts people who identify as lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer women and nonbinary people. Please share how you self-identify, using language that feels most accurate to you. Feel free to include all intersections of your identity. (Examples: lesbian, trans person of color, Latinx queer woman, radical faery, butch, etc.)
lesbian
[Artist Statement] Tell us more about your photo by sharing a brief artist statement OR answering this prompt: "This is what being ______ means to me..." (Max. 100 words)
[ MIROR ] is a founding act of two identities building themselves in the reflection of each other.
For nearly a year and a half, I photographed my friend Adam’s gender transition. At first, I thought I was documenting a physical evolution. Over time, I realized it was so much more than that.
When we started, I had never held a camera in my life. At the same time, I was going through a deep period of personal questioning, marked by an hospitalization and a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder.
Back then, we were two people in a process of becoming...
For nearly a year and a half, I photographed my friend Adam’s gender transition. At first, I thought I was documenting a physical evolution. Over time, I realized it was so much more than that.
When we started, I had never held a camera in my life. At the same time, I was going through a deep period of personal questioning, marked by an hospitalization and a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder.
Back then, we were two people in a process of becoming...
[Visual Description] Describe your photo so we can provide alt-text. Example: "Two women holding hands and smiling as they walk in a pride parade, surrounded by rainbow flags."
ARTISTIC APPROACH
[ MIROR ] is a combination of three pictures I made of my friend Adam during his transition in 2021-2022.
The first photograph was taken the day before his first hormone injection, the second one month after his mastectomy, and the third a year later. I edited them metaphorically, as a process of revelation — much like developing a roll of film in a darkroom, where the image gradually emerges in the bath.
The editing of the images symbolizes this process of Adam’s evolution, progressively revealing his identity and personality across the three photographs. A gradual transformation, both visible and intimate.
[ MIROR ] is a founding act of two identities building themselves in the reflection of each other.
For nearly a year and a half, I photographed my friend Adam’s gender transition. At first, I thought I was documenting a physical evolution. Over time, I realized it was so much more than that.
When we started, I had never held a camera in my life. At the same time, I was going through a deep period of personal questioning, marked by an hospitalization and a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder.
Back then, we were two people in a process of becoming. I was photographing a journey of self realization, and this movement ran through both of us.
Under my gaze, Adam was discovering himself.
Through him, I was also discovering myself.
We were both engaged in a form of transition.
His was visible.
Mine was internal.
Adam offered me something rare: access to his vulnerability at the very moment he was discovering who he truly is. This trust is an act of friendship which I consider a gift. This project transformed our friendship, deepening our bond and giving it a new intensity.
The camera became a shared space of intimacy — a safe territory where our vulnerabilities could exist without judgment. Being a privileged witness to his affirmation of identity moved me profoundly. But it also transformed me, allowing me to explore my own identity and giving space for my artistic process to emerge. Simply. Both in trust.
[ MIROR ] speaks to that fragile moment when one becomes oneself.
About this quest for alignment between inner and outer self.
About this necessity of being seen in order to fully exist.
These images are not only the record of a gender transition.
They are the trace of a parallel construction: that of a man asserting himself, and of an artist being born.
Beyond that, [ MIROR ] remains for me a space of mutual recognition: the moment when, in each other’s gaze, we each began to see ourselves.
[ MIROR ] is a combination of three pictures I made of my friend Adam during his transition in 2021-2022.
The first photograph was taken the day before his first hormone injection, the second one month after his mastectomy, and the third a year later. I edited them metaphorically, as a process of revelation — much like developing a roll of film in a darkroom, where the image gradually emerges in the bath.
The editing of the images symbolizes this process of Adam’s evolution, progressively revealing his identity and personality across the three photographs. A gradual transformation, both visible and intimate.
[ MIROR ] is a founding act of two identities building themselves in the reflection of each other.
For nearly a year and a half, I photographed my friend Adam’s gender transition. At first, I thought I was documenting a physical evolution. Over time, I realized it was so much more than that.
When we started, I had never held a camera in my life. At the same time, I was going through a deep period of personal questioning, marked by an hospitalization and a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder.
Back then, we were two people in a process of becoming. I was photographing a journey of self realization, and this movement ran through both of us.
Under my gaze, Adam was discovering himself.
Through him, I was also discovering myself.
We were both engaged in a form of transition.
His was visible.
Mine was internal.
Adam offered me something rare: access to his vulnerability at the very moment he was discovering who he truly is. This trust is an act of friendship which I consider a gift. This project transformed our friendship, deepening our bond and giving it a new intensity.
The camera became a shared space of intimacy — a safe territory where our vulnerabilities could exist without judgment. Being a privileged witness to his affirmation of identity moved me profoundly. But it also transformed me, allowing me to explore my own identity and giving space for my artistic process to emerge. Simply. Both in trust.
[ MIROR ] speaks to that fragile moment when one becomes oneself.
About this quest for alignment between inner and outer self.
About this necessity of being seen in order to fully exist.
These images are not only the record of a gender transition.
They are the trace of a parallel construction: that of a man asserting himself, and of an artist being born.
Beyond that, [ MIROR ] remains for me a space of mutual recognition: the moment when, in each other’s gaze, we each began to see ourselves.
[Agreement] In the event that you win the 2026 Curve Photo Contest, do you consent to having your photograph printed for the sole purpose of displaying at The Curve Foundation's one-day event at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco, CA) during Lesbian Visibility Week? The Curve Foundation will cover printing costs, but will not cover costs for mailing the print after the event ends.
Yes
[Agreement] Do you consent to The Curve Foundation storing, sharing, and using this image and its description as we deem appropriate, including disseminating on our social media, website, and Curve Archive and Curve Quarterly?
Yes
[Agreement] By checking 'I understand' below, I acknowledge that this contest upholds values of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and I confirm that my submission does not contain anti-LGBTQ+ or other discriminatory, hateful, or exclusionary content.
I understand