Beautiful Disruption. Nadine Ijewere's Photography.

Nadine Ijewere is a London-born photographer with a Nigerian-Jamaican background. With her approach, she aims to help establish "a new standard of beauty" (via). For her commissions, she usually does most of the casting herself choosing models who (apart from age) do not conform to the traditional industry standards and who are ethnically underrepresented (via). In 2019, she became the first Black woman to shoot a cover for Vogue (via).

My work is all about the celebration of diversity without creating a representation – particularly for women, as we are the ones who are more exposed to beauty ideals and to not being comfortable in who we are.

Nadine Ijewere

I find beauty in all its facets. My work is about showcasing different forms of beauty that I believe our society could do a better job of representing. We are so different, and I think it is especially important to show this in the world of fashion. I follow this principle when I cast models and also by exploring my own origins and identity.

Nadine Ijewere

Excerpts from an interview:

Looking at these images, I wish that I saw these kinds of images and people that looked like me when I was growing up. It’s such an important thing and it’s exciting that there are more Black creatives now using their culture and heritage to create amazing images that can be used for research or reference because it wasn’t necessarily available for me. Even now, it’s in a questionable quantity and finding images for inspiration is quite difficult, but it’s nice that the images we create can inspire the next generation. 

Positivity is important because for so long there have been negative connotations around the Black community and Black women and it’s something that we don’t really see celebrated or portrayed in a beautiful way. In the past, when you did see women of colour, there was always an element in place to make them conform to what the beauty ideal was – whether it’s straightening their hair or lightening their skin. It’s important for me to reframe that and show women of colour in a positive light, that’s what my work is all about.

I would have been a lot less self-conscious because growing up, I was always the sort of person who tried to fit in and change something about me. My hair was a big issue because I grew up in an environment that was predominantly white and went to a school that was the same so I was always trying to assimilate to fit in. 

I would straighten my hair a lot and would wear weaves and extensions instead of my natural hair because in fashion and beauty you never really saw girls with tight curls or Afro-type hair being portrayed as beautiful. If you did, it would be the images in Black hair salons of girls on relaxer kits with silky, straight hair. It was the image that was constantly shoved in your face, so of course you felt insecure because that’s not the hair you had. Even protective styles which are natural like cornrows and braids were seen as not beautiful or unprofessional. 

You become very restricted in a sense and you lose your sense of identity because you’re trying to fit in and be somebody else. I struggled with that for years, but having images like the images I see now would be incredible because it shows beauty as being multifaceted, there’s different kinds of elements and layers to it. It shows it in a different way and celebrates it across the board and that’s super exciting.

Nadine Ijewere

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photographs by Nadine Ijewere via and via and via and via

Beautiful Boy. By Lissa Rivera.

‘Beautiful Boy’ is an ongoing series of photographs of my lover. It began as a confession between friends. On the subway one evening, my friend shared that he had worn women’s clothing almost exclusively in college, but after graduation struggled to navigate a world that seemed both newly accepting and yet inherently reviling of male displays of femininity. I thought that photography could provide a space to experiment outside of isolation. Taking the first pictures was an emotional experience, and I connected to his vulnerability. Over time he became my muse and eventually my romantic partner. Soon we began taking photos like addicts, setting up several shoots every weekend. 

When taking the photos, I feel the same as when viewing a film where a director and actress share a deep connection to the fantasy captured. It is thrilling to see my partner transform into countless goddess-like forms. The project is a canvas to project our desires. At times the images even become self-portraits. The camera transposes our private experiences into public expression.  

Often, I construct sets in my studio. Other times, I seek out locations that feel as if they are sets. I spend a lot of time conceptualizing the costumes, which I piece together from thrift shops, ebay, and discount fabric outlets. I think it is important that the images not be seamless, but more like an assemblage where you can see the glue, revealing contemporary identity as a collage of the visual language of the past. Although I art-direct the images and come to each shoot with a strong aesthetic intention, my partner inhabits each costume and set in a thoughtful way, embodying the scenario with a sense of openness. 

It is important to show his femininity as strength. I want to feel empowered as well, and to have an intimate muse. Together we investigate feminine fantasies presented throughout the history of photography and cinema. The project is a way to ‘step-inside’ images that we have found alluring and examine what it is like to live each scenario out. We explore both our captivation and our ambivalence towards these depictions of femininity. By presenting my partner within the lineage of great beauties and populating the media with our images, we are reclaiming our voice in what is attractive and beautiful.

Lissa Rivera

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photographs by Lissa Rivera via and via and via

Dementia in Transgender Population: Case Vignette

In their paper, Beehuspoteea and Badrakalimuthu (2021) shortly discuss the lack of research on dementia in the transgender population and the specific need for carers to be provided with the psychoeducation necessary to better understand the impact dementia possibly has on transgender persons. They also mention the higher level of stress carers of transgender people might experience and the higher level of stress transgender persons might have when developing dementia. In order to illustrate the complexity of this intersection, the authors present a case vignette:

"A 76-year-old female transgender person was diagnosed with Alzheimer's dementia in 2014 with MOCA (MOntreal Cognitive Assessment) score of 17/30. She was treated with donepezil 10mg OD and prescribed mirtazapine 15mg ON to treat insomnia and low mood. She underwent male to female gender reassignment surgery, including bilateral breast surgery completed in 1960s, and hormonal treatment with estradiol. She considered her sexual orientation to be towards the same sex, and she was in a long-term relationship with a female partner. Her medical history included migraine and she was on propranolol 80mg OD. There was no other significant psychiatric history. She resided in her own flat and her partner lived in a separate flat in the same block. The couple had two of three surviving adopted daughters, both in their forties. The patient's primary carer was her partner and there was no formal care input. In 2016, her MOCA score dropped to 11/30 and she had impaired hygiene and nutrition. In 2018, she started wandering and bringing men to her flat and engaging with them in sexual activities leading to a high risk of vulnerability to abuse culminating in Mental Health Act assessment and admission to a dementia unit. MOCA was not performed due to receptive and expressive dysphasia. In the unit, she presented with insomnia, agitation, dysphasia, having sexually inappropriate conversations with staff about being interested in men, which was a continuation of new behaviour that was identified in the community, as well as making innuendos to female members of staff while talking about herself as a ‘man’. She presented with toileting behaviour that would identify her as male gender, for example standing to urinate as if using a urinal, interpreted as reversal towards biological gender identification. Her partner felt devastated by behaviours exhibited by the patient, which could be identified as male-gender based behaviour aligned with biological gender by birth."

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- Nirja Beehuspoteea & Vellingiri Raja Badrakalimuthu (2021). Dementia in transgender population: case vignette. Progress in Neurology and Psychiatry, link
- photograph by Lissa Rivera via

"I feel like a caged pig in here." The Role of Ethnicity in a Nursing Home.

Abstract: Racial disparities in nursing home (NH) quality of life (QOL) are well established, yet, little is understood about actual experiences shaping QOL for Black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) residents in NHs. This gap extends to BIPOC residents with limited English proficiency (LEP). 

Drawing on Kane's (2001) and Zubristky's (2013) QOL frameworks, this case study examined QOL experiences for Hmong NH residents, an ethnic and refugee group from Southeast Asia, in a NH with a high proportion of BIPOC residents. Methods include four months of observation, interviews with eight Hmong residents and five NH staff, and one community focus group. Thematic analysis revealed significant challenges in QOL. Exacerbated by language barriers and racism, many residents reported neglect, limited relationships, lack of meaningful activities, and dissatisfaction with food. These experiences fostered a sense of resignation and diminished QOL among Hmong residents, highlighting the need for additional supports for this group. (See Thao, Davilla & Shippee, 2024)

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- See Thao, M., Davilla, H., Shippee, T. (2024).  "I feel like a caged pig in here": Language, Race, and Ethnic Identity in a Case Study Hmong Nursing Home Resident Quality of Life. Journal of Applied Gerontology, link

- photograph by Flip Schulke via

Safety in Housing for Older Adults

Abstract: Housing solutions for older adults aim at providing a safe environment to live in. The construction is heavily based on aspects of physical safety, often disregarding the social aspects of feeling safe. The older adults themselves are looking for a living environment that supports their individual capacities and social networks. 

The living environment can contribute to their physical, social, and emotional safety by providing accessible housing and spaces for community building. Interviews with older adults who had recently lived through a building fire highlighted the importance of the community in daily life, in emergency as well as in recovery from hazards. The results show that community building is related to access to common-use spaces and daily interaction with neighbors. The shared spaces in the immediate surroundings can enhance community cohesion and generate peer support. The common-use spaces and public facilities in urban environment have a significant role in emergencies and in the process of recovery from adversities. (Verma, 2024)

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- Verma, I. (2024). Safety in Housing for Older Adults - A Qualitative Study. Journal of Applied Gerontology, link

- photograph by Flip Schulke via

The Lavender Scare

The Red Scare, the witch-hunt against Communists during the Cold War, was accompanied by what was later dubbed the Lavender Scare. In 1947, the U.S. Park Police launched the so-called "Sex Perversion Elimination Program" targeting gay men. The following year, an act was passed that facilitated the arrest and punishment of "sexual psychopaths". Homosexuality was seen as a subversive threat, just like Communism. In 1950, Senator McCarty directly linked Communism and homosexuality. In his speech, he claimed to have a list of 205 Communists working at the State Department. McCarthy went into details about some individuals who he branded as "unsafe risks"  Two cases, "Case 14" and "Case 62" concerned homosexuality.  

According to a top intelligence official, so McCarthy, "practically every active Communist is twisted mentally or physically in some way". That included the two cases he had mentioned since homosexuals were susceptible to Communist recruitment due to their "peculiar mental twists". One week later it was reported that 91 homosexual employees of the State Department had been dismissed for the sake of national security. Political rhetoric was more and more characterised by linking "Communists and queers", assumptions about Communists were mirrored beliefs about homosexuals. What they were said to have in common was that both groups were: morally weak, godless, psychologically disturbed, undermining the tranditional family, shadowy figures with secret subcultures. From the 1940s to the 1960s, thousands of gay employees were fired from the federal workforce (via).

In 2023, on the 70th anniversary of the Lavender Scare, the White House published a statement calling the decades-long period of investigation, interrogation and firing of up to 10,000 queer Federal employees one of the darkest chapters in US-American history (via).

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photograph (John Paul Evan's photograph of his own marriage) via

Inspiration Porn

The term "inspiration porn" was coined by disability rights activist Stella Young (1982-2014) in 2012. Here are some excerpts from her TEDx talk in which she explains why disabled people are no objects of inspiration, no objects at all.

I grew up in a very small country town in Victoria. I had a very normal, low-key kind of upbringing. I went to school, I hung out with my friends, I fought with my younger sisters. It was all very normal. And when I was 15, a member of my local community approached my parents and wanted to nominate me for a community achievement award. And my parents said, "Hm, that's really nice, but there's kind of one glaring problem with that. She hasn't actually achieved anything." 

 And they were right, you know. I went to school, I got good marks, I had a very low-key after school job in my mum's hairdressing salon, and I spent a lot of time watching "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Dawson's Creek." Yeah, I know. What a contradiction. But they were right, you know. I wasn't doing anything that was out of the ordinary at all. I wasn't doing anything that could be considered an achievement if you took disability out of the equation. Years later, I was on my second teaching round in a Melbourne high school, and I was about 20 minutes into a year 11 legal studies class when this boy put up his hand and said, "Hey miss, when are you going to start doing your speech?" And I said, "What speech?" You know, I'd been talking them about defamation law for a good 20 minutes. And he said, "You know, like, your motivational speaking. You know, when people in wheelchairs come to school, they usually say, like, inspirational stuff?" "It's usually in the big hall." 

And that's when it dawned on me: This kid had only ever experienced disabled people as objects of inspiration. We are not, to this kid -- and it's not his fault, I mean, that's true for many of us. For lots of us, disabled people are not our teachers or our doctors or our manicurists. We're not real people. We are there to inspire. And in fact, I am sitting on this stage looking like I do in this wheelchair, and you are probably kind of expecting me to inspire you. Right? Yeah.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you dramatically. I am not here to inspire you. I am here to tell you that we have been lied to about disability. Yeah, we've been sold the lie that disability is a Bad Thing, capital B, capital T. It's a bad thing, and to live with a disability makes you exceptional. It's not a bad thing, and it doesn't make you exceptional. 

And in the past few years, we've been able to propagate this lie even further via social media. You may have seen images like this one: "The only disability in life is a bad attitude." Or this one: "Your excuse is invalid." Indeed. Or this one: "Before you quit, try!" These are just a couple of examples, but there are a lot of these images out there. You know, you might have seen the one, the little girl with no hands drawing a picture with a pencil held in her mouth. You might have seen a child running on carbon fiber prosthetic legs. And these images, there are lots of them out there, they are what we call inspiration porn.  And I use the term porn deliberately, because they objectify one group of people for the benefit of another group of people. So in this case, we're objectifying disabled people for the benefit of nondisabled people. The purpose of these images is to inspire you, to motivate you, so that we can look at them and think, "Well, however bad my life is, it could be worse. I could be that person."

But what if you are that person? I've lost count of the number of times that I've been approached by strangers wanting to tell me that they think I'm brave or inspirational, and this was long before my work had any kind of public profile. They were just kind of congratulating me for managing to get up in the morning and remember my own name.  And it is objectifying. These images, those images objectify disabled people for the benefit of nondisabled people. They are there so that you can look at them and think that things aren't so bad for you, to put your worries into perspective. 

And life as a disabled person is actually somewhat difficult. We do overcome some things. But the things that we're overcoming are not the things that you think they are. They are not things to do with our bodies. I use the term "disabled people" quite deliberately, because I subscribe to what's called the social model of disability, which tells us that we are more disabled by the society that we live in than by our bodies and our diagnoses.  

(...) 

I really think that this lie that we've been sold about disability is the greatest injustice. It makes life hard for us. And that quote, "The only disability in life is a bad attitude," the reason that that's bullshit is because it's just not true, because of the social model of disability. No amount of smiling at a flight of stairs has ever made it turn into a ramp. Never. Smiling at a television screen isn't going to make closed captions appear for people who are deaf. No amount of standing in the middle of a bookshop and radiating a positive attitude is going to turn all those books into braille. It's just not going to happen. 

I really want to live in a world where disability is not the exception, but the norm. I want to live in a world where a 15-year-old girl sitting in her bedroom watching "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" isn't referred to as achieving anything because she's doing it sitting down. I want to live in a world where we don't have such low expectations of disabled people that we are congratulated for getting out of bed and remembering our own names in the morning. I want to live in a world where we value genuine achievement for disabled people, and I want to live in a world where a kid in year 11 in a Melbourne high school is not one bit surprised that his new teacher is a wheelchair user. 

Disability doesn't make you exceptional, but questioning what you think you know about it does.

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photograph (Isle of Wight Festival) via

Can I Keep My Job? Adult Children Caring for their Elderly Parents

In the 1970s, studies started showing to what extent public services can support parents when it comes to combining caring for their children with participation in employment. Only in the 1990s did researchers begin to focus on the impact adult children's caring for their elderly parents can have on their participation in the labour market. According to research, the need (or wish) to care for older parents can lead to adult children losing their jobs, more absence from work, increased use of part-time work or more difficulty concentrating at work (due to being worried) and negative effects on productivity, promotion and salary.

Adult children are important care providers, most of the non-professional care is provided by daughters of older people. In other words, a great many women "in their fifties and sixties are now both working and having to care for their parents", hence "more likely than men to withdraw completely from the labour market" or work fewer hours - either because they need the time to care for the parent(s) or because of health problems resulting from attempts to combine care work with job. "Public expenditures on eldercare appear to affect both intergenerational support and female labour market participation."

Gautun and Brett (2017) investigated the connection between adult children's attendance at work and public care services for older people. 

We test the hypothesis that the detrimental effect on attendance at work of having an older parent in need of care is moderated (reduced) by the parent’s use of a public nursing homes, possibly also by home care services.

The study was carried out in Norway (n = 529, employees aged 45 to 65). A majority of respondents (80%) had provided support to their parent(s) in mostly practical form, e.g. purchases or transportation. 16% ha given nursing assistance. 58% of those reporting to have helped their parent(s) during the past year said that it was difficult to combine care and work. 

The results are interesting and probably not extremely surprising:

Institutional care for older people in need of care (i.e. nursing homes) was associated with improved work attendance among their children—their daughters in particular. Data also indicated a moderating effect: the link between the parents’ reduced health and reduced work attendance among the children was weaker if the parent lived in a nursing home. However, the results were very different for home-based care: data indicated no positive effects on adult children’s work attendance when parents received non-institutionalised care of this kind. Overall, the results suggest that extending public care service to older people can improve their children’s ability to combine work with care for parents. However, this effect seems to require the high level of care commonly provided by nursing homes. Thus, the current trend towards de-institutionalising care in Europe (and Norway in particular) might hamper work attendance among care-giving adult children, women in particular. Home care services to older people probably need to be extended if they are intended as a real alternative to institutional care.

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- Gautun, H. & Brett, C. (2017). Caring too much? Lack of public services to older people reduces attendance at work among their children. European Journal of Ageing, 14, 155-166,, link
- photograph by Dorothea Lange (1938) via

Quoting Betty Friedan

"Aging is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength."

Betty Friedan

photograph of Betty Friedan via

It's not ...

“It’s not how old you are. It’s how you are old.”

Jules Renard

photograph by Harold Feinstein via