Human rights is a strong focus in both Rebecca’s commercial work and in her art practice.
In 2015, Kāhui Tū Kaha commissioned Rebecca to create a training video called Caring for Trans People. It is part of a toolkit they use in workshops to educate carers about issues for trans people. She did the filming, stop motion sequences and editing. It was very personal material that needed to be sensitively presented. Rebecca’s relationships within the Trans community through her work with Assume Nothing, was a great advantage.
“I have worked with Rebecca Swan in various capacities since 2008 and I have found she will deliver more than you yourself could visualise. She works with you guiding, suggesting and helping you to formulate what you want for the end result. At the same time your own wishes and integrity are totally respected. She is patient, has a lot of contacts and a flexible pricing structure to best realise your project.”
Julie Watson, Silver Rainbow Programme Lead, Kāhui Tū Kaha.
In 2011 the Count Me In conference was hosted in Kathmandu, Nepal by Crea, a feminist human rights organisation based in New Delhi. Crea commissioned Rebecca to photograph and interview fifteen delegates during the conference and to project manage the production of the Free and Equal publication.
Rebecca was commissioned to photograph over forty people around Aotearoa for the worlds first transgender inquiry carried out by a national human rights commission, To Be Who I Am, Kia Noho Ki Tōku Anō Ao. The New Zealand Human Rights Commission partnered with Rebecca’s exhibition Assume Nothing, celebrating gender diversity.
