Capturing moments of intentional connectivity enacted between photographer and subject, Pickering’s six photographic portraits of friends and community members simultaneously contribute to a canon of transmasculine representation that has, until recently, been scarce. Subjects are therefore boldly characterised as transmasculine figures misrepresented and/or obscured from history, including; Joa(n) of Arc, Harlem Renaissance blues singer Gladys Bentley, and Sullivan himself. Contextualising feelings and experiences through precedence, this process also revels in the pleasure that can be found in the act of becoming.

“I started taking the photos and making this film when struggling to make deep connections with others.  The title makes me think of connectivity and the full-bodily freedom within that, of finding myself comfortable in another person’s presence. In the film, I discuss how I first met a non binary person at a house party and it was like looking in a mirror, or at least, how I’d have wanted that to feel. Later, the camera became another kind of mirror, as invited more interactions like that one. These kinds of fleeting interpersonal connections, and the discovery of books like Sullivan’s, have opened my eyes to the trans-masc community in ways that are at odds with what I had seen portrayed in mainstream media. We Both Laughed In Pleasure is an intentional celebration of thriving narratives.”