The first photograph of mine was taken on a July afternoon, as my parents posed with their newly-born child. I am observed snuggling on my mother’s arms wrapped in a pink towel, as the young couple shyly posed for their first snapshot with me. No one can make out whether I am male or female. Leafing through the family album recently, I have found several other photographs of younger days where I am just a child, beyond the boundaries of gender. This ambiguity has always fascinated me. This ‘girl-or-boy’ mystery is something that I find drawn towards, always. And that was the reason I wanted to do a photo-story on transwomen in early 2012.
I had initially planned to do the usual 12-photo story. Getting access however was so difficult, that I decided to shelve the idea altogether. Until I was sucked into the community as months passed by and the desire for the twelve-photo story died. What came out is a journey with dear friends over a period of a year, photographing them in between long chats about life and love, pleasure and despair.
Soham Gupta
