(MADE FOR CMDP3700 — DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHIC PRACTICES)
Below is an 18 photo collection titled "TRANS PEOPLE ARE ROYALTY".
Initially, this project wasn't supposed to look anything like it does. My original concept was to recreate historical portraits of Victorian-era royalty with myself as the subject. However, that concept ran into a few issues. First off, I was on a time crunch — I had only about a week to plan, build my set, design costumes, shoot, and edit. Second, it was going to be too expensive.
From there, I decided to scale back the concept. Instead of going all-out Marie Antoinette with my vision, I thought portraying myself in contemporary clothes with a crown would work. I started shooting, but quickly decided to change things again.
The second shift in this project's creation was in part due to dysphoria. I had a lot of trouble trying to feel confident in how I looked in these photos. I quickly realized that my proposed idea didn't reflect the title that had inspired the entire project.
"Trans people are royalty" is a phrase that I've come to live by during my transition, and I wanted to portray that by showing myself in true royal elegance. The truth is, though, the phrase "trans people are royalty" isn't meant to only label trans folks as beautiful or elegant when they're portraying cisgender historical figures; that is, they're not only valuable when fitting into cis-centric ideas of expression. Instead, the phrase is meant to assert that all trans people are royalty no matter what point in their transition they're occupying.
The photos below are featured with their individual titles. They're meant to describe trans-ness in a genuine way.
