“These pieces capture manhood, snippets of vulnerability and moments of abstraction, that often go unrecognized in the day-to-day.” - Nadia Huggins, 2021

Nadia Huggins was born in Trinidad and Tobago and grew up in St.Vincent and Grenadines, where she is currently based (Huggins 2021). Since 2010, Huggins has built a body of images that characterized her everyday observations. Huggins's work merges documentary and conceptual practices that explore belonging, identity, and memory while representing Caribbean landscapes and the sea (Huggins 2021). 

Huggin’s Circa no Future: Exploring the Vulnerable Masculine Under Water collection (photographs of adolescent boys in St.Vincent) represent youth and masculinity on the island and the sea. Huggins believes “That there is a link between an under-explored aspect of Caribbean adolescent masculinity and the freedom of bodies in the ocean” (Huggins 2021). She further mentions, "These pieces capture manhood, snippets of vulnerability and moments of abstraction, that often go unrecognized in the day-to-day. The ocean itself takes on a personality - that of the embracing mother providing a safe space for being - which is both archetypal and poignant.” (Huggins 2021). Huggins also acknowledges her relationship with the subjects, who were aware of her while posturing. Yet, they change their behavior when they enter the water, a moment that tells the true story (Huggins 2021). Without a doubt, Huggin’s Circa no Future collection raises questions and observations about identity, gender expression, and one's environment. 

Nadia Huggins expressed how her identity and gender are often misread. As a person who experiences the world with no hair, it affects how people see Huggins and leads to assumptions about her sexuality and gender (Nixon 2017). Growing up as a teenager in St. Vincent, she described herself as a tomboy, yet as she began to lose hair, this affected how her tomboyness was perceived (Nixon 2017). Huggins's masculine presentation and bald head challenge notions of gender and identify as a same-sex-loving woman (Nixon 2017). Although much of the discussions of Huggins's artwork are surrounded by the concepts of specific identity markers, Huggins prefers to focus on the transgressive representations and pushing boundaries (Nixon 2017). Huggins mentions that she does not intend to make ‘queer” art or anything labeled because she refuses to be limited to a particular style or focus (Nixon 2017). Acknowledging Huggins's approach to her artwork and how she identifies explicitly is essential. Yet, it is also vital to recognize how her artwork can start discussions and possibly understand transgressive expressions of gender and sexuality across the Caribbean region. 

Huggins beautifully captures vulnerability and masculinity, two categories often not seen next to one another. Photography is a vital visual depiction of social change. I present the possibility of viewing an artists artwork, whether they had activist intentions or not, as the first step toward igniting social change.  Huggin’s visual art consists of efforts to highlight non-heteronormative forms of gender expression, which can contribute to Queer/LGBTQIA+ activism. Her artwork is a real-life example of Queer Caribbean artists documenting the transgressive expansion of gender and sexuality in post-colonial heteronormative societies.

“The ocean itself takes on a personality - that of the embracing mother providing a safe space for being.... I am as much a subject as the boys for whom I provide solace” - Nadia Huggins, 2021