#Pridephotoaward Entry

My entry series I submitted to the #pridephotoaward competition for 2023. Part of my efforts to do my part to reclaim trans desire for a queer audience.

Finding some beauty in one's trans body seems a fraught things these days. To many are prone to assign the label of autogynephilia to any transgender woman expressing some shred of her own sexuality. To hide such aspects of the self becomes a natural defense mechanism. The representation of our desires become claimed by pornography in it's absence, tailored utterly to the male gaze as slurs are bellowed into the void our own silence leaves. In this context, authentic expressions of queer desire become a form of rebellion.

This series was intended as a tiny shard of a riposte. An exploring of changing sexual identity as my body becomes something I finally can consider truly mine. The dance of discarding or distracting from the masculine aspects of physicality whilst treasuring the joy of the newly transmuted feminine is a curious one. How different parts of our body are named or forgotten in intimate moments. Some to be treasured, others not touched. These images shows my own steps.