A Second Kind Of Woman

These images form a direct and challenging, fleeting, intimate and provocative portrait of a 'Kathoey' or 'Ladyboy', who lives in Bangkok, Thailand.

The work raises questions regarding identity, gender and sexuality, and comments on the paradox and contradiction that is inherent in the life of a transexual; the beautiful and the grotesque, the confidence, the shyness, the comedy and the tragedy.

I was not largely concerned with the technical formalities of photography, and by using slapdash compositions, an almost snapshot aesthetic, blurred images (to create a painterly, poetic element), and by contrast, flash (to comment on the harsh realities), the body of work has a sense of authenticity and realism (can we still use these terms when talking about the documentary role of the medium?), and that does not repeat the stereotypical representations of the subject, ie: pouting, sequins and feathered boas.

MA Photography, Bradford School of Media and Visual Arts, UK