Each year, Aperture chooses one winner of the Portfolio Prize, which recognizes an up-and-coming photographer. Recent winners have included Danielle Bowman, River Claure, and Laila Stevens. This year’s winner, Avion Pearce, is currently an MFA student at the Yale School of Art. Primarily utilizing 8x10 and medium-format cameras, Pearce uses these older photographic methods to explore the current landscape of queerness, and often positions the queer body on top of historical images. This inclusion of politically infused images is no accident. Pearce hopes to comment on transgender rights in America by placing their own work within the context of other historical and revolutionary moments. —Zack Hauptman